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Title: AI-Powered Drone Swarms Have Now Entered the Battlefield

Link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/25/09/02/2139...

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Wall Street Journal: On a recent
evening, a trio of Ukrainian drones flew under the cover of darkness to a
Russian position and decided among themselves exactly when to strike. The
assault was an example of how Ukraine is using artificial intelligence to
allow groups of drones to coordinate with each other to attack Russian
positions, an innovative technology that heralds the future of battle.
Military experts say the so-called swarm technology represents the next
frontier for drone warfare because of its potential to allow tens or even
thousands of drones -- or swarms -- to be deployed at once to overwhelm the
defenses of a target, be that a city or an individual military asset. Ukraine
has conducted swarm attacks on the battlefield for much of the past year,
according to a senior Ukrainian officer and the company that makes the
software. The previously unreported attacks are the first known routine use
of swarm technology in combat, analysts say, underscoring Ukraine's position
at the vanguard of drone warfare. [...] The drones deployed in the recent
Ukrainian attack used technology developed by local company Swarmer. Its
software allows groups of drones to decide which one strikes first and adapt
if, for instance, one runs out of battery, said Chief Executive Serhii
Kupriienko. "You set the target and the drones do the rest," Kupriienko said.
"They work together, they adapt." Swarmer's technology was first deployed by
Ukrainian forces to lay mines around a year ago. It has since been used to
target Russian soldiers, equipment and infrastructure, according to the
Ukrainian military officer. The officer said his drone unit had used
Swarmer's technology more than a hundred times, and that other units also
have UAVs equipped with the software. He typically uses the technology with
three drones, but says others have deployed it with as many as eight.
Kupriienko said the software has been tested with up to 25 drones. A common
operation uses a reconnaissance drone and two other UAVs carrying small bombs
to target a Russian trench, the officer said. An operator gives the drones a
target zone to look for an enemy position and the command to engage when it
is spotted. The reconnaissance drone maps the route for the bombers to follow
and the drones themselves then decide when, and which one, will release the
bombs over the target.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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