Ukraine is developing artificial intelligence-powered drones, and it will be difficult for Russia to shoot them down, as the British newspaper The Telegraph reported this Tuesday: The project to create an image recognition system that can autonomously stalk and attack targets has already succeeded and has been supported by more From £200 million (about €233 million) of Western funding from the UK-led Drone Alliance.
Katerina Chernohorenko, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister, noted that the system would make unidirectional attack drones less vulnerable to Russian electronic jamming and allow pilots to operate them farther from the front line. According to the official who led Kiev's drone negotiations, she also highlighted that the drone was being developed as a “joint project” with other members of the £1.2 billion (about 1.39 million euros) alliance.
“The big challenge is the final stage of engagement, considering that more and more individual electronic warfare systems are available,” Chernohorenko said. “Our drones must be more effective and guided towards the target without any operators. They must rely on visual navigation. We also call this 'last-mile targeting', focusing on the image.”
The drone will be launched and piloted by a human about one kilometer away from its target. At that point, the artificial intelligence will take over, directing the drone to the final target, making it more difficult for Russia to send signals to the pilot.
Ukrainian forces have become increasingly dependent on these devices to make up for a shortage of more conventional weapons, which is fueled by a delayed $60 billion aid package from the United States.
According to a MoD spokesperson, “The UK is leading the supply of lethal aid to Ukraine, including more than 10,000 drones, which can attack targets at sea, provide surveillance and obtain a first-person view.” The UK is also a joint leader of the Drone Capabilities Alliance, which has supplied Ukraine with thousands of battlefield-proven aircraft.
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