The New AI Arms Race Altering the Conflict in Ukraine

"Such innovation constitutes our future threat," cautions Serhiy Beskrestnov, who has just acquired a newly intercepted enemy unmanned aerial vehicle.

It was far from typical device either, it was revealed. Assisted by AI, the unmanned aerial vehicle can find and attack objectives autonomously.

Beskrestnov has inspected numerous drones in his capacity as the nation's defence forces consultant.

In contrast to previous versions, it did not transmit or receive communications, causing it to be impossible to disrupted.

Both sides' militaries have both been testing AI in this war, and for certain tasks they are already using it, to assist in finding targets, intelligence collection and de-mining.

And for the Ukrainian army, AI has become essential.

"The military gets more than 50,000 footage feeds [from the battlefield] every month which are processed by artificial intelligence," states the defense official.

"This helps them rapidly handle this massive data, pinpoint objectives and mark them on a map."

AI-Empowered Tech as a Strategic Asset

AI-enhanced tech is regarded as a tool that can enhance strategic planning, make the most of assets and ultimately save lives.

But regarding autonomous armaments, it's revolutionizing the battlefield.

Ukrainian troops currently employ AI-powered software so that unmanned aircraft lock on a target and subsequently fly autonomously for the last few hundred metres till the mission concludes.

Jamming cannot be done and shooting down such a small flying object proves difficult.

Ultimately these systems are expected to become fully autonomous weapons that can find and eliminate objectives on their own.

All a soldier must do is press a button on a smartphone app, explains Yaroslav Azhnyuk, head of a local tech company.

It handles the rest, according to him, finding the objective, dropping munitions, assessing the damage and then returning to base.

"It doesn't demand flight experience from the user," he adds.

Defensive Systems and Upcoming Developments

Defensive drones with such autonomous capability could greatly strengthen defensive systems targeting Russian long-range attack drones, such as the infamous Shaheds.

"A computer-guided autonomous system is better than a human in so many ways," explains the executive. "It is sharper. It detects the objective sooner than a human can. It is more agile."

The official indicates such a technology is not yet available, but he suggests the country is nearing completing its creation. "We have partially integrated it in certain equipment," states the deputy defence minister.

It's possible there will be many thousands of these technologies deployed by the end of 2026, claims Azhnyuk.

Cautions and Dangers of Total Autonomy

However Local creators are cautious about completely relying on military technologies that depend solely on AI, with no human involvement. The risk is AI may fail to differentiate a Ukrainian fighter from a hostile one, as they may be using the same uniform, notes Vadym, who declined to give his surname.

The firm produces remote-operated machine guns, that employ artificial intelligence to autonomously identify people and track them. Because of worries about friendly fire, he states they avoid including an auto-fire feature.

"It can be activated, but we must gain further expertise and additional input from the ground forces in order to determine when it is safe to employ this capability."

Moral Issues and Global Rules

There are also fears that AI-driven technologies could breach the laws of armed conflict. How can they prevent harming civilians, or tell apart soldiers who want to surrender?

For the deputy defence minister, the ultimate choice in such circumstances must be made by a person, although AI could make it "easier to decide". Yet there are no guarantees that nations or armed groups will adhere to global humanitarian standards.

Therefore counteracting such technologies is increasingly important.

How do you stop a "mass of unmanned craft" when jamming or employing jets, tanks or missiles is rendered ineffective?

Ukraine's highly successful "Web" mission, when a hundred unmanned aircraft targeted Russian military airports in June, was probably supported by artificial intelligence.

Numerous locals worry that the adversary will copy this approach, not just on the battlefront but further afield as well.

Ukraine's president cautioned the United Nations recently that AI was fueling "the worst arms race in history."

He urged international regulations for the application of AI in armaments, and said the matter was "just as urgent as stopping the spread of atomic arms."