Ukraine's defense industry is working hard to realize an extremely ambitious vision of a war of the future: swarms of drones controlled by artificial intelligence, capable of communicating with each other and executing autonomous attacks on targets, reports AFP.
AI drones are the new frontier in warfare PHOTO SHUTTERSTOCK
Although the technology seems straight out of sci-fi movies, military officials and companies are confident it could become a reality in the coming years — the scenario is raising expectations and excitement amid the race for automated warfare.
The topic was at the center of the “Drone Autonomy” conference held recently at a secret location in Lviv by the Iron Cluster, a coalition of defense industry groups operating in the western Ukrainian city. The interest in this technology is huge, the participants said.
Military expert Yury Fedorenko pointed out that drone swarms are one of the most sought-after projects in the Ukrainian military sector.
“There is huge interest. No matter who you talk to, they all say the same thing: show them. Where are they? We want to see them.” he reported during the conference.
The concept involves the use of groups of drones that can act in a coordinated manner, without direct human intervention, to carry out predetermined missions. Such systems would allow a small number of operators to control tens or even hundreds of attack aircraft simultaneously, so as to overwhelm enemy defenses and wipe out the numerical advantage in terms of troops.
Volodymyr “Colt”, head of civil-military cooperation in Ukraine's 412th Brigade, said the military has been waiting for this technology for years.
“We've been talking about swarm technology for a very long time, and we in the military have been waiting for it for even longer. The only question is when it will happen.” he declared.
Military officials and industry figures told AFP that significant progress had been made in developing the technology, although large-scale deployment was not yet possible and there were voices warning against premature enthusiasm. Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andrii Lebedenko stated that there are already functional projects under development.
“The main goal is to save the lives of our servicemen. Today we have such projects. They are not yet on a large scale, but they are evolving. Massive implementation could become possible in the coming years“, he told AFP.
A project that is being worked on discreetly
Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, one of the main promoters of advanced technologies in the war, also launched the Defense AI Center A1 to accelerate projects based on artificial intelligence. The director of the center, Danylo Tsvok, confirmed that drone swarms are already in the testing phase, but did not provide further details, as many things must be kept secret.
One of the companies that stood out as a leader in the field is Swarmer, a Ukrainian-American company recently listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in the USA. The company's chief executive, Alex Fink, stated that the first forms of swarm technology are being used in combat as early as April 2024.
According to him, the systems developed by the company can autonomously send multiple drones to a certain area, after which human operators can decide to either take control to launch an attack or select targets before the drones execute the strikes autonomously.
Still, Fink emphasized that the final decision on whether to identify a valid target must rest in the hands of the people.
“We're not at the point where we can trust technology to make strategic or even tactical decisions about what constitutes a legitimate target. We don't want our systems to make that decision. We want people to remain in charge.”he said.
Despite the excitement, there are also skeptical voices in the Ukrainian defense industry. Yaroslav Azhnyuk, head of autonomous drone company Fourth Law, believes that swarms are often overrated because they offer a spectacular image and a story of sci-fi technology that raises expectations that it could become reality.
He argues that the true stakes of autonomous warfare are not just swarms of drones, but the full development of autonomy: independent navigation, target identification and attack execution
“We're focused on complete autonomy and massive scalability. This is the Manhattan Project of our era”Azhnyuk said, referring to the American program that led to the development of the first nuclear weapon during World War II.
He warned that the global balance of power could hinge on who first gains supremacy in the area of military autonomy.
And Russia is investing heavily in artificial intelligence and drones, which it considers strategic priorities for its military. According to a report published in April 2026 by expert Kateryna Bondar of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Moscow has probably already introduced a fully autonomous unmanned system into combat.
Anton Melnyk, co-founder of the MITS Capital fund, which finances the Ukrainian defense industry, formulated the stake of this technological competition.
“Either we will succeed – the Armed Forces of Ukraine together with NATO partners – or the enemy will succeed,” he declared.
