We are talking about the development of autonomous drones by the Ukrainian company “Viry” and other technological startups that are actively creating new weapons to fight against Russian troops. Tests of drones using artificial intelligence for autonomous targeting and combat missions are described.
In a field on the outskirts of Kyiv, the founders of the Ukrainian company for the production of drones “Viry” recently worked on the creation of weapons of the future.
To demonstrate his achievements, 25-year-old Oleksiy Babenko, the executive director of “Viryu”, got on a motorcycle and rode on a dirt road. A drone followed behind him, tracking his movements with a briefcase-sized computer operated by a colleague.
A quadcopter used to be controlled by a human, but now it is no longer necessary. After the drone locked onto its target — Mr. Babenko — it flew on its own, using software that tracked his movements with a camera.
The roar of the motorcycle engine could not compare to the silent drone that was chasing Mr. Babenka. “Even faster, put the pedal to the metal!” his colleagues shouted over the radio as the drone approached. “You lost, there’s no stopping him!”
If the drone had been equipped with explosives and his colleagues had not disabled autonomous tracking, Mr. Babenko would have been in great danger.
Viryi is one of many Ukrainian companies working on significant advances in consumer technology weaponry spurred by the war with Russia. Efforts to outmaneuver the enemy, along with massive investments, donations and government contracts, have turned Ukraine into a Silicon Valley for autonomous drones and other weapons.
Companies are developing technologies that reduce the need for human intervention in the aiming and firing process. The availability of off-the-shelf devices, ease of software development, powerful automation algorithms, and specialized artificial intelligence microchips have pushed lethal innovation to a new level, ushering in a potentially new era of killer robots.
The most advanced versions of the technology that allows drones and other machines to operate autonomously are made possible by deep learning, a type of artificial intelligence that uses large amounts of data to identify patterns and make decisions. Deep learning has helped build popular language models such as OpenAI’s GPT-4, and allows models to interpret and respond in real-time to video and camera footage. This means that the software that once helped a drone track a snowboarder from the mountain can now become a deadly tool.
In more than a dozen interviews with Ukrainian entrepreneurs, engineers and the military, a picture of the near future was formed, when swarms of self-guided drones will be able to coordinate attacks, and machine guns with computer vision will automatically shoot down soldiers. More outlandish devices are also being developed, such as a hovering unmanned helicopter with machine guns.
This weapon isn’t quite as sophisticated as sci-fi blockbusters like Terminator with its T-1000 liquid metal killer, but it’s a step in that direction. Although these weapons are not as advanced as the expensive military-grade systems developed by the US, China and Russia, they have the advantage of low cost—only thousands of dollars or less—and ready availability.
Most of these weapons, with the exception of the ammunition, are built using code found on the Internet and components such as hobbyist computers such as the Raspberry Pi, which can be purchased at Best Buy or a hardware store. Some US officials have expressed concern that these capabilities could soon be used to carry out terrorist attacks.
For Ukraine, these technologies can become an advantage over Russia, which is also developing autonomous killer gadgets, or simply help it keep up. The systems are raising the stakes in the international debate about the ethical and legal implications of AI on the battlefield. Human rights groups and UN officials have sought to limit the use of autonomous weapons over fears they could spark a new global arms race that could spiral out of control.
In Ukraine, these concerns are less important than the struggle against the occupier.
“We need maximum automation,” said Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation, who is leading the country’s efforts to use technology startups to expand advanced warfighting capabilities. “These technologies are fundamental to our victory.”
Autonomous drones like the Viryu have already been used in combat to strike Russian targets, according to Ukrainian officials and video reviewed by The New York Times. Mr. Fedorov said the government is working on financing drone companies to help them ramp up production quickly.
The main questions arise as to what level of automation is acceptable. Currently, drones require a pilot to aim at a target while keeping a “human in the loop,” a phrase often used by politicians and AI experts. The Ukrainian military has expressed concern that malfunctioning autonomous drones could strike their own forces. In the future, restrictions on such weapons may not exist.
Ukraine has “roughly laid bare the logic of why autonomous weapons have advantages,” said Stuart Russell, an artificial intelligence scientist and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who has warned of the dangers of weaponized AI. “There will be weapons of mass destruction that will be cheap, scalable and readily available in arms markets around the world.”
In an old workshop in an apartment building in eastern Ukraine, 28-year-old Dev, a soldier in the 92nd Airborne Assault Brigade, fostered innovations that turned cheap drones into weapons. It first attached bombs to racing drones, then added larger batteries to increase range, and recently installed night vision so the drones can operate in the dark.
In May, he was one of the first to use autonomous drones, including drones from the Viry company. While some drones still need improvement, Dev believes they will be the next big technological breakthrough on the front lines.
According to him, autonomous drones are already in great demand. They are especially useful in conditions of interference that can disrupt communication between the drone and the pilot. When the drone is flying autonomously, the pilot can simply lock on to the target and let the device do the rest.
Makeshift factories and labs are springing up all over Ukraine to make remote-controlled machines of all sizes, from long-range planes and attack boats to cheap kamikaze drones—short for FPV, for first-person view because they’re controlled by a pilot wearing virtual reality goggles , which provide a view from a drone. Many of these drones are precursors to machines that will eventually operate on their own.
Efforts to automate FPV flights began last year, but have been slowed by problems building the flight control software. According to Mr. Fedorov, these problems have already been solved. The next step is to expand the technology through increased government spending. Mr. Fedorov noted that about 10 companies already manufacture autonomous drones.
“We already have systems that can be mass-produced, and they are being actively tested on the front lines, which means they are being actively used,” Mr. Fedorov said.
Some companies, like Vyriy, use basic computer vision algorithms that analyze and interpret images to help the computer make decisions. Other companies are applying deep learning to create software that can identify and attack targets. Many companies said they received data and video from flight simulators and drone flights.
One Ukrainian drone manufacturer, Saker, has created an autonomous guidance system using artificial intelligence, originally intended for sorting and classifying fruit. Over the winter, the company began sending its technology to the front lines, testing various systems with drone pilots. Demand has increased sharply.
By May, Saker was mass-producing single-board computers with its software that could be easily attached to FPV drones so they could automatically target a target, the company’s chief executive Viktor said, fearing retaliation from Russia.
Then the drone crashes into the target, “and that’s it,” he said. “It resists the wind. It is resistant to jamming. You just have to be specific about what you’re going to hit.”
Saker currently makes 1,000 PCBs per month and plans to expand production to 9,000 per month by the end of the summer. Several Ukrainian military units have already hit Russian targets on the front lines using Saker technology, according to company data and video footage verified by The Times.
In one Saker-powered clip shared on social media, a drone flies over a field damaged by shelling. A tank suddenly appears in the center of the pilot’s viewfinder. The drone attacks independently, exploding into the side of the armored vehicle.
In recent weeks, Saker took a step forward, successfully deploying a reconnaissance drone that used artificial intelligence to identify targets and then send autonomous kamikaze drones to destroy them. In one case, the system hit a target at a distance of 25 miles.
“When we reach a point where we don’t have enough people, the only solution will be to replace them with robots,” said Rostyslav, Saker’s co-founder, who also asked to be identified only by his first name.
On a hot day last month in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, 23-year-old reservist Yuriy Klontsak was training four soldiers to use the latest futuristic weapon: a self-aiming gun turret controlled by a PlayStation controller and tablet.
Speaking about the arrows near the barrage, Mr Klonczak explained how the gun, named Wolly because of its resemblance to Pixar’s WALL-E robot, can automatically aim at a target up to 1,000 meters away and move quickly between programmed positions to cover a large area. Weapons company DevDroid has also been working on automatic aiming to track and engage moving targets.
“When I first saw this gun, I was fascinated,” Mr. Klonczak said. “I understood that this was the only way, if not to win this war, then at least to hold my ground.”
This gun is one of several on the front line that uses artificial intelligence to automatically track and fire at targets. Similar to object identification systems in surveillance cameras, the software surrounds people and other potential targets with a digital frame on the screen. All the shooter has to do is pull the trigger remotely using a video game controller.
Currently, weapons manufacturers assure that they do not allow a machine gun to fire without a human pressing the button. But they also point out that making such a system would be easy.
Many innovations in Ukraine are aimed at countering Russia’s progressive weapons. Ukrainian soldiers with machine guns are the main target for Russian drone attacks. With robotic weapons, no human is exposed to danger from machine gun fire. New algorithms, still under development, could help weapons shoot Russian drones out of the sky.
Such technologies and the ability to quickly create and test them on the front line attract attention and investments from abroad. Last year, Eric Schmidt, the former executive director of Google, together with other investors founded the company D3 to invest in the latest combat technologies in Ukraine. Other defense companies, such as Helsing, also cooperate with Ukrainian firms.
Ukrainian companies act faster than their competitors abroad, said Evelyn Buchatskyi, managing partner of D3, adding that the company invites companies it invests in outside of Ukraine to visit the country to accelerate their development.
“It’s just a different set of incentives,” she said.
Engineers and soldiers often need to join forces on the battlefield. Oleksandr Yabchanka, commander of the Da Vinci Wolves battalion, known for its innovative weapons, recalled how the need to protect the “road of life” — the route for supplying troops along the eastern front line in Bakhmut — prompted the invention. After envisioning a solution, he posted an open request on Facebook for a remote-controlled computerized machine gun.
In a few months, Mr. Yabchanka received a working prototype from Roboneers. The gun became useful to his unit almost instantly.
“We could sit in the trenches, drink coffee and smoke cigarettes and shoot at the Russians,” he said.
Later, Mr. Yabchanka’s input helped the Roboneers develop a new type of weapon. The company has mounted a machine gun turret on a mobile drone to assist troops in assaults or rapid repositioning. According to Roboneers CEO Anton Skrypnyk, this decision created a greater need for AI-based auto-aiming.
Similar partnerships have stimulated other achievements. In May, Swarmer held a video call with the military at a drone range to brief soldiers on updates to its software that allows drones to launch unmanned attacks.
In 2017, Stewart Russell, an artificial intelligence researcher at Berkeley, released an online film, Slaughterbots, warning about the dangers of autonomous weapons. In the film, roving swarms of low-cost armed AI drones use facial recognition technology to track down and kill targets.
What is happening in Ukraine is bringing us closer to a dystopian future, according to Mr. Russell. According to him, he is already haunted by Ukrainian videos of soldiers being chased by armed human-controlled drones. There is often a point where soldiers stop trying to run or hide because they realize they cannot escape the drone.
“There’s nowhere for them to go, so they’re just waiting to die,” Mr Russell said.
He is not the only one who fears that Ukraine is a turning point. In Vienna, members of the UN expert group also stated that they are concerned about the consequences of new methods being developed in Ukraine.
Officials have spent more than a decade debating rules for the use of autonomous weapons, but few expect any international agreement to set new rules, especially as the United States, China, Israel, Russia and others are scrambling to develop even more sophisticated weapons. As part of one US program announced in August, known as the Replicator initiative, the Pentagon said it plans to mass-produce thousands of autonomous drones.
“Geopolitics makes it impossible,” said Alexander Kmentt, Austria’s top representative on autonomous weapons at the UN. “This weapon will be used, and it will be used in the military arsenal of almost everyone.”
No one expects countries to agree to a total ban on such weapons, he said, “but it should be regulated in a way that we don’t end up in an absolutely nightmare scenario.”
Groups including the International Committee of the Red Cross are pushing for legally binding rules that ban certain types of autonomous weapons, restrict the use of others and require some level of human control over decisions to use force.
For many in Ukraine, the discussion is academic. They are superior in weapons and numbers of people.
“First we need to win,” said Mr. Fedorov, the Minister of Digital Transformation. “To that end, we will do everything we can to implement as much automation as possible to save the lives of our soldiers.”
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