Russia-Ukraine war is accelerating the dangerous race toward fully autonomous drones
Drones with autonomous functions reduce dependence on communications links and can escape attempts at jamming. But they come with huge ethical risks.
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is accelerating the trend toward fully autonomous drones in warfare. Both nations have been increasingly focusing on drone production and utilization since the conflict began in February 2022. Russia has sought technological assistance from Iran, while Ukraine has developed its drone industry through private defense firms and technological innovation.
Recent developments have seen both sides add autonomous features to their existing drone fleets and create new drones with AI-driven autonomous capabilities. In November 2025, a Ukrainian first-person-view drone demonstrated the ability to strike a probable Russian tank using an AI-assisted guidance system when its communications link with the operator was disrupted.
Reports suggest that fully autonomous drones represent a small percentage of the millions of drones deployed by both sides, but their impact on the battlefield is evident. Autonomous drones reduce dependence on communications links, can operate despite electronic warfare, and enable strikes deep into enemy territory.
At the advanced level, Russia reportedly fielded a fully autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in early 2025, while Ukrainian analysis of recovered Russian drones revealed an Nvidia computer designed for AI-enabled decision-making software. The onboard AI utilizes computer vision to recognize objects, track them, navigate, and select targets autonomously.
The use of autonomous targeting raises ethical concerns, as human operators select target areas for moral reasons, while onboard software independently picks the final aim point. Russia has integrated similar technology into its Geran series UAVs, which feature a seeker guidance package that allows onboard computers to guide the drone in the final flight phase after a human operator selects the target.
Ukraine has also adopted modular AI-driven packages, including chips with embedded software and cameras, that can be installed across various drones and platforms. While the company behind these modules claims to offer more advanced and fully autonomous solutions, it is unclear if Ukraine has mass-produced such drones. There are also reports of Ukraine employing fully autonomous quadcopter drones in Russian-occupied Crimea, though the autonomous nature of the strikes remains disputed.
Written by urgent.news from The Conversation's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
