While the world is still discussing the future of autonomous war, Ukraine seems to have already brought it today. In a conflict landscape that evolves quickly, the drones capable of making single decisions in flight make their presence felt more and more often.
On a front where the war is worn day and night, a new generation of weapons has already been activated. Three Ukrainian drones, equipped with state-of-the-art software, recently flew in an area controlled by Russians and-without human intervention-decided between the moment of the attack.
It is, according to analysts, one of the first consistent uses of “ROI” technology – a system in which several drones communicate with each other, share their tasks and react in real time, without waiting for orders from an operator.
This self-coordination capacity, based on artificial intelligence algorithms, could deeply transform how future conflicts are worn. But he also raises serious questions about who – or what – makes the final decision when it comes to life and death, writes The Wall Street Journal.
From science-fiction idea to tactical reality
The technology used by the Ukrainian army was developed by Swarmer, a local startup. His software allows drones to collaborate, identify targets, adapt trajectories and even redistribute tasks whether one of them remains without battery or is shot down.
“You set the target, and the drones deal with the rest”explains Serchii Kuprrienko, the executive director of Swarmer. In practice, this means that a human operator transmits a target area, and the recognition drone mapping the land for the others, who decide between who will launch the ammunition and when.
The system, first implemented to place me, is now constantly used in blows on Russian positions. A Ukrainian officer involved in these operations says he used it over a hundred times.
In a standard configuration, three people-the planner, the navigator and the operator-control several drones. In the absence of software, it would have taken almost three times more personal. In a conflict in which Ukraine fights against a higher numerical opponent, human efficiency becomes a strategic resource.
Not yet a roi in the full sense but enough to count
Analysts agree that what we see now in Ukraine is not yet a “pure” in the pure military sense – that is, hundreds of autonomous drones operating in complex coordination, completely autonomous. But also a team of three to eight UAVs that set their own attack strategy is an important step.
Swarmer is currently testing versions of the system capable of coordinating up to 100 drones. Behind this technology-supported by American investors-are a team of young engineers who work discreetly, in a suburb, among welding devices, 3D printers and electronic components.
Everything while, a few meters away, the neighbors cut their grass quietly.
A global race with ethical and strategic stakes
Ukraine is not the only one that develops drones. USA, China, Russia, France or South Korea invest massively in this direction. In 2016, the US Army launched an experiment with over 100 micro-drone capable of flight in band and collective decisions. Israel would have used a drone swarm in Gaza in 2021, but the army did not officially confirm the information.
However, according to specialists, Ukraine seems to be the first country to transform this technology into a usual fighting tool.
But the technology does not come without challenges. Maintaining a stable network between drones is a major difficulty – sometimes, the excessive exchange of information has led to the system blockages, even the Ukrainian military recognizes. In addition, costs increase, in a war where Ukraine consumes hundreds of thousands of drones annually.
And, perhaps most importantly, technology raises questions about the degree of autonomy that these systems should have. Currently, Swarmer claims that the decision to “shoot” belongs to a man. But how long will this principle remain valid?
International organizations, including UN, demand clear regulations on lethal autonomous weapons. In the US and in the Allied states, the current military doctrine imposes the human presence in the so-called “decision chain”.
War turns under our eyes
For the moment, what is happening in the battlefields in eastern Ukraine seems detached from a SF movie. But experts begin to accept that the future arrived faster than we expected.
“So far, drone swarms were a promise rather than a reality,” says Zak Kallenborn, a drone war. “But Ukraine has shown that we are not talking about theories, but about tactics in progress.”
