Ukraine’s recent assault on airbases across Russia has already ushered in a new conventional wisdom: the expensive, human-crewed weapons (tanks, planes, ships) that have long defined the world’s “advanced” militaries have been rendered obsolete by inexpensive drones.

However, this view is incomplete, and perhaps dangerously misleading. Today’s drone warfare offers sobering lessons that go far beyond the vulnerability of expensive legacy weapons; and the looming integration of AI into drone warfare will make the current situation look positively quaint.

Consider the lessons of the Ukraine war so far. First, the impact of drones goes far beyond legacy weapons. Drones have indeed rendered tanks and armored personnel carriers extremely vulnerable, so Russian ground assaults now frequently use troops on foot, motorcycles, or all-terrain vehicles.

Drones are also effective against almost everything else. Ukraine has used drones to destroy Russian targets as varied as weapons factories, moving trains, ammunition stores, oil refineries, ships, and ports. It could be worse; in fact, Ukraine has shown great restraint, considering Russia’s barbaric conduct. Airport terminals, train stations at rush hour, athletic and concert stadiums, pharmaceutical factories, hospitals, schools, nursing homes — all are equally vulnerable.

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Two additional sobering lessons from Ukraine concern how drone warfare depends on its industrial base. First, speed and responsiveness are critical. Drone technology, weapons, and tactics now evolve at a blinding pace. A new drone will be useful for only 2-6 months. The other side develops countermeasures, requiring the development of new products, against which new countermeasures are developed, and so on.

At first, the drones used in Ukraine were crude weapons, radio-controlled by a pilot who needed to be nearby. As drones became more sophisticated and lethal, jamming was used to block their radio signals, which led to frequency changes and then frequency hopping, which was then countered by multi-frequency jammers, which then engendered drones that attack jamming equipment.

Then Russia developed drones controlled via fiber-optic cable — impervious to jamming. Ukraine tries to track the cable to its source and kill the pilots (with drones). Now Ukraine has fiber-optic drones, too.

Guidance is ever more sophisticated, so that drones can evade radar by flying very low or using stealth technology. But drone detection and tracking systems have also advanced, employing networks of cellphones and microphones connected to audio analysis software, as well as using Lidar, radar, and cameras.

In response, however, Ukraine’s drone industry and military developed a revolutionary model of weapons research and development, production, and deployment, based on direct, continuous communication between frontline units and drone producers.

Here, Ukraine benefited from having a strong startup ecosystem, which supports a weapons industry (with hundreds of companies) capable of designing, producing, and fielding a new weapon in a matter of weeks. This year, Ukraine will produce more than four million drones, most of them models that did not exist even a year ago. Unfortunately, Russia has adapted as well, also relying heavily on private startups.

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Some 80% of the electronics used in Russian drones are sourced from China. While Ukraine was initially highly dependent on China, it has reduced its reliance to perhaps 20%, most of that obtained covertly.

Yet US and European defense R&D and procurement remain slow and uncompetitive, which cripples their ability to defend against drones, as well as their ability to use them. Although few people realize it, the US and NATO now desperately need Ukraine for its drone expertise.

Moreover, AI will change everything. Ukraine’s 1 June operation used 117 drones, each controlled by a skilled operator, and reports suggest that something like half were defeated by Russian defenses — jamming, mainly — because the drones needed to be in radio communication with their controllers. Had they been autonomous, there could have been a thousand of them.

And with AI, there is no need for pilot communication, and thus no effective jamming, greatly increasing drone range and lethality. Five years from now, it will be terrifyingly easy to launch preemptive strikes on conventional targets.

True, the required AI functionality still demands far more computing power and memory than can be put into a small drone. Nor is it cheap. Nvidia chips, for example, cost up to $50,000 each, so even one powerful AI processor would make most drones prohibitively expensive.

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However, that’s changing fast, driven by the goal of putting serious AI capability into every phone. When that happens, those same capabilities will be available to every drone weapon. And with the sole, vital exception of AI processors, the entire supply chain for both phones and drone weapons is dominated by China.

Stuart Russell, an AI specialist at the University of California, Berkeley, has long argued for an arms-control treaty to prevent the spread of small, mass produced, AI-controlled drone weapons. He even underwrote the production of a short film, Slaughterbots, which dramatizes the risks these drones could pose in the wrong hands.

At a dinner years ago, he told me that it would soon be easy to target individuals using facial recognition or, say, everyone wearing a cross, a yarmulke, or any other religious or political symbol.

Since any meaningful treaty is unlikely in the current geopolitical environment, we must prepare for a world that probably will contain such weapons. But the Western defense establishment increasingly looks like the typical “legacy” company that has been caught off guard by technological disruption. In markets, legacy resistance can be costly, but the costs are purely monetary. In warfare, they can and will be deadly.

Russia’s new AI kamikaze drone can navigate and attack without any connection to a human operator. The V2U may be one of the most sophisticated small attack UAVs on either side of Russia’s 40-month wider war on Ukraine—and it risks tilting the life-or-death drone race in the Kremlin’s favor.

The electrically-powered, propeller-driven, explosives-laden V2U, roughly 1.2 meters from wingtip to wingtip, first appeared along the 1,100-km front line this spring. 

Recovering crashed examples, Ukrainian and allied analysts have been able to identify the components—many of them Chinese, Japanese or American in origin—that help the V2U fly for up to an hour at 60 km/hr and strike with a vehicle-wrecking 2.9-kg shaped-charge warhead, all without human intervention.

That autonomy makes the V2U essentially impossible to jam. Like smaller fiber-optic first-person-view attack drones, the V2U is impervious to electromagnetic attacks on its control link. The only way to defeat it is to shoot it down—or hide from it. 

“Autonomy is the inevitable pathway drone warfare will follow,” explained “Roy,” a Canadian drone expert. With the V2U, “Russia is pulling ahead of Ukraine in the crucial field of drone autonomy.” 

Total autonomy

Like many drones, the camera-equipped V2U boasts satellite positioning by way of the American GPS and Russian GLONASS constellations. It’s the “ubiquitous approach to navigation,” wrote Justin Bronk and Jack Watling, analysts for the Royal United Services Institute in London.

But satellite navigation is fragile. “The power of these navigational emissions is very low,” Bronk and Watling pointed out. “They are, therefore, easy to receive, but also easy to jam through saturation of the frequencies used. Alternatively, adversaries can deliver false signals such that the receiver is spoofed into locating itself in an erroneous position.”

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So the V2U’s designers added a backup navigation system. “A 100-GB solid state drive on a video support board, combined with a laser range finder, gives the UAV terrain-following capability in the presence of GPS/GLONASS jamming,” Roy noted. 

Terrain-following is entirely internal, and requires no connection to an outside operator or satellite. “If a platform has an electro-optical sensor and a pre-loaded map of the terrain over which it is flying, computer vision can be used to match the UAV’s camera view against identifiable terrain features and physical markers such as rivers, roads and forests,” Bronk and Watling wrote. 

Terrain-matching can be inaccurate at the lower altitudes where a smaller drone such as the V2U is most comfortable, so there’s a backup for its backup. “If a platform has a laser rangefinder and flies at a low and level altitude”—and yes, the V2U does fly like that—“it can compare changes in contour of the ground over time to track its progress over its pre-loaded map,” the RUSI analysts explained.

Probing as deeply as 60 km behind the front line, a V2U—or, more ominously, a swarm of several V2Us—will use its built-in AI to scan for targets matching pre-loaded images of the most valuable Ukrainian vehicles and systems. Tanks. Rocket launchers. Artillery. Air-defenses.

The V2U “would be effective against a range of valuable targets,” Roy warned.

The Ukrainian armed forces have highly autonomous, AI-assisted attack drones, too, of course—but the V2U may be the best of the bunch. The type’s proliferation is a waving red flag—a warning that the sanctions-squeezed Russian drone industry is still capable of adaptation and innovation. It’s capable of making technological leaps in arguably the critical capability of the wider war: autonomy. 

“Ukraine must not let the Russians lead this race,” Roy stated.

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Ukraine gets green light to strike Russia — and it’s no longer enough. As Western allies finally approve cross-border strikes, Russia has ramped up its monthly drone output to daily levels, turning Ukraine’s defensive strategy into an economic death trap.

Military

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Frontline report: Ukrainian spies create multi-country network surrounding Russia to execute its historic Operation Spiderweb. Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb destroyed 40+ Russian strategic aircraft worth $7B across 5 airbases, eliminating 34% of Russia’s bomber fleet in an unprecedented deep-strike mission.

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. Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) revealed that when communication was severed, the drones continued missions using pre-programmed routes and AI algorithms before automatically activating warheads at designated targets.

Intelligence and technology

New chief of Ukraine’s drone corps sets 100-day plan to reshape the sky. Robert “Madiar” Brovdy, a battlefield-tested commander and former entrepreneur, has taken charge of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces.

Moscow mass-produces drones—China pretends it’s not helping. From microchips to optics, Chinese firms are arming Russia’s drone war through proxies and shell companies, allowing Moscow to close the tech gap.

Ukraine’s cheap drones did not just hit Russia—they prompt US to rethink homeland security. After a massive Ukrainian drone strike on airfields in Siberia, the US army secretary acknowledged: America may face a new kind of war.

China secretly helps Russia build massive long-range drone fleet. While China blocks drone exports to Kyiv, Russian access continues.

Ukrainian workshops forge tomorrow’s weapons with allies while Washington watches from sidelines. As the US Defense Secretary misses Ramstein, Ukraine and its European partners strike a game-changing pact: not just weapons, but weapons factories—on Ukrainian soil.

Montenegro will produce drones for Ukraine in a US-backed deal. The $15 million agreement aims to create UAVs and build export capacity from Podgorica. Initial production will be donated to Ukraine, with long-term export and defense goals.

Anti-aircraft weapons bound for Ukraine discovered abandoned in Polish hangar. Polish prosecutors are investigating why a licensed defense company failed to complete its contracted delivery of anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine, instead leaving the weapons in border region storage, where they remained without proper oversight.

International

Europe offers Ukraine postwar shield—but Washington refuses to help raise it. Plans for a Western coalition to deter future Russian aggression stall as Trump’s White House declines to back Europe’s security guarantees,

Kim Jong Un promises full support for Russia’s Ukraine war, says North Korea. Strategic partnership with Moscow deepens as Shoigu visits Pyongyang.

Bloomberg: Trump denies Europe air support for Ukraine force post-war. Washington’s reluctance complicates the UK and France’s plans for long-term security guarantees.

Humanitarian and social impact

Ukraine warns of Europe-wide nuclear disaster as Russia plans to reconnect Zaporizhzhia plant. The largest nuclear power plant in Europe, Zaporizhzhia, remains in cold shutdown and is powered by Ukraine’s own grid, with no spare parts or qualified personnel available to maintain it. Yet, Russia is reportedly building power lines to forcibly reconnect the station, raising fears of a nuclear crisis across the continent.

Russia kills Ukrainian baby and seven more people as Trump keeps pushing predictably doomed peace talks. The Russian drone strike on Pryluky alone killed five, including a one-year-old, his mother, and grandmother.

Political and legal developments

Trump stalls Senate bipartisan sanctions bill. The proposed legislation seeks to impose massive tariffs on Russian exports amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, while Trump pursues “peace talks.”

Putin “gives the finger” to the entire world, Zelenskyy says after Trump’s call with Russian president. As Trump relays Putin’s threat, Zelenskyy urges stronger international action and frames inaction as silent approval of Russian crimes.

Russian air force suffers devastating blow it will not recover from. The loss of strategic missile-carrying bombers destroyed or damaged today is a blow Russia will not be able to compensate for, according to military analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko. 

Kovalenko stresses that aircraft like the Tu-95MS, Tu-22M3, and Tu-160 are no longer manufactured in modern Russia. What Russian propaganda calls “new” aircraft are merely refurbished Soviet-era units.

“To this day, Russia has not produced a single brand-new Tu-22M3 or Tu-160 from scratch — only reassembled legacy models from the Soviet era. In fact, everything that was damaged or destroyed today is beyond restoration and certainly can’t be replaced by new production,” Kovalenko says.

The loss of the Tu-160 is especially painful for Russia. It is the most expensive and unique aircraft in the Russian Aerospace Forces, a true “unicorn,” as Kovalenko puts it.

“Sadly, it’s not the last unicorn. If there’s a true last unicorn, it would be the A-50 early warning aircraft. I think even more spectacular news about that might be coming soon!” he adds.

Earlier, Ukrainian journalist Yurii Butusov said the Security Service smuggled 150 small strike drones and 300 munitions into Russia, 116 of which took off during the latest operation against Russian aircraft.

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Control was conducted via Russian telecom networks using auto-targeting.

Ukrainian startup launches fully autonomous drone strikes deep into Russian territory, rewriting the rules of modern warfare, Forbes reports.

In a historic military breakthrough, Ukrainian defense startup Strategy Force Solutions has successfully deployed autonomous drone motherships in real combat operations against Russian forces — a world first that could reshape global defense strategies.

Their breakthrough system, GOGOL-M, swaps out traditional $3–$5 million missile strikes for AI-driven missions costing just $10,000.

Ukraine surges ahead in drone warfare innovation

While global powers like the US and China continue testing autonomous weapons, Ukraine has leapfrogged ahead, deploying AI-powered drone swarms on the battlefield today, not years from now.

The GOGOL-M mothership, boasting a 20-foot (6-meter) wingspan, can autonomously fly up to 300 km behind enemy lines. It then releases two smaller attack drones that identify and destroy targets without human control.

How it works: AI-powered precision at scale

At the core of the system is SmartPilot, an onboard AI that mirrors the instincts of a human fighter pilot. It uses multi-sensor fusion — combining cameras, LIDAR, and communications — to navigate and strike in environments where GPS and radio signals are jammed.

“In some ways, it’s like a self-driving car,” says CTO Andrii.

He explains that while there aren’t many obstacles in the air, the system still needs to remain lightweight. To achieve that balance, the team engineered a streamlined setup using cameras, LIDAR, and communication tools to enable real-time navigation and coordination.

LIDAR, which acts like laser radar, generates a detailed 3D map of the surroundings and functions in all lighting and weather — essential for reliable autonomous missions in hostile conditions.

This gives the drones the ability to:

• Destroy parked jets and air defenses
• Hit oil depots and infrastructure
• Strike deep into Russia with precision

One military operator described the experience:

“It feels like a video game. I set the waypoints and watch it work.”

Silent and deadly: Drones that wait to strike

In one of its most striking features, the drone can land near enemy targets, remain hidden, and wait for hours before launching a surprise strike — a capability described as “autonomous ambush mode.”

This gives Ukrainian forces a powerful edge in asymmetric warfare, allowing for stealth operations previously thought impossible with drone tech.

Ukraine beats US and China to real-world AI combat

While the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit and China’s drone makers remain in testing phases, Ukraine is already in full-scale production. Strategy Force Solutions now builds 50 GOGOL-Ms and 400 attack drones per month, constrained only by military demand.

The company’s software-first approach also allows easy adaptation to new platforms — from flying drones to unmanned boats and ground vehicles.

Russia faces a new kind of threat

Military analysts suggest that Russia must now defend against autonomous swarms that don’t need GPS, live control, or constant communication — a nightmare for traditional air defense systems.

As Forbes tech correspondent David Hambling notes:

“The crucial first step — long-range autonomous drone delivery — has now been taken. It may be Version 1.0, but it’s already a problem for Russia.”

A childhood idea that sparked a military revolution

The origin of this breakthrough? A childhood memory. As a boy, the system’s creator Andrii saw a woman walking railway tracks to check for defects. He thought, “This should be done by a robot.”

That early insight grew into AI systems for infrastructure inspection — and later, with the onset of war in 2022, a pivot to battlefield autonomy.