AI and Drones Reshape the Battlefield: How Modern Warfare Has Transformed Forever
From FPV Drones to Strategic Swarms: The Ethics, Evolution of AI and Drones, and Future of Autonomous Warfare
This post can be read in Tocsin Magazine, and all Medium members can read the full article here.
Introduction
With the advent of AI and the invention of drones, humanity, rather than harnessing these tools for progress and peace, has discovered a new way to massacre its own kind. Since the dawn of civilization, whenever humans existed, conflict and war have existed.
Even in ancient times, at the dawn of civilization, people clashed and crafted tools, war devices, and personal weapons for these struggles. Unfortunately, the situation has not changed to this day; only the ways one human tries to kill another have evolved.
While the sword and knife once signified personal weapons, and arrows and spears represented long-range artillery, today we kill with rifles and pistols. Our ancestors couldn’t have even dreamt of long-range artillery, aviation, armored weaponry, and similar arsenals.
Every war, from the earliest to the present, has driven technological progress, but that progress was, in reality, the creation of ever more sophisticated devices with which one person kills another. Human inventiveness in designing lethal tools has no bounds. Today, we’ve created AI, flying drones, and smart bombs for wartime use.
AI War That Changed All Wars
The war between Ukraine and Russia marked a pivotal transformation in warfare: for the first time, the key on the battlefield was no longer the infantry soldier, but the drone operator, or artificial intelligence acting from the shadows.
A small drone, akin to a child’s toy and costing only a few hundred dollars, can destroy war machines worth millions, execute kamikaze attacks on civilian infrastructure, or assassinate a specific individual.
That little drone does all this without question, without need for food or lodging, accurately and precisely, and, most importantly, it completes its lethal mission without any moral dilemma or remorse.
When greater precision or lethality is required, swarms of drones or large UAVs like Bayraktar or Raptor can deliver damage a thousand times greater. The military finally has its super-soldier: perfect, obedient, executing orders quickly, on time, and without question.
Types of Drones and Their Roles on the Battlefield
Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
- FPV improvised drones (in the Ukraine–Russia conflict)
Easily assembled drones for delivering explosive payloads in precise strikes. Cheap, quick to produce, and ideal for “hit-and-run” tactics. Despite battery life constraints and operator training requirements, they have become highly prevalent and effective in the field.
- AeroVironment RQ-20 Puma
A small, hand-launched, battery-run drone used primarily for reconnaissance and intelligence gathering via its EO/IR camera with 50× optical zoom. It withstands weather well, flies up to ~72 km/h, reaches over ~16 km, and remains airborne for up to 2 hours.
- Orlan-10
A versatile, medium-range UAV developed by the Special Technology Center in Saint Petersburg, operational since 2011. It’s among the most widely used Russian drones, about 16 kg at launch, range 110–140 km, with up to 16–18 hours of flight autonomy. Its modular design includes optical, thermal, video cameras, radio relay, and jamming equipment; typically operated in groups where one drone scouts, another jams, and a third relays data. Used in Syria, Libya, Ukraine, and elsewhere; costs approximately USD 87,000–120,000 per unit.
Large / Tactical Drones
- Bayraktar TB2 (Turkey)
A MALE-class tactical armed UAV developed by Baykar. It has autonomy up to 27 hours, operates at altitudes up to ~7,600 m, speeds of ~130–222 km/h, can carry 150 kg payloads, and has a maximum takeoff weight of 700 kg. Equipped with EO/IR/laser detectors, optionally AESA radar. Armaments include laser-guided bombs (MAM-C/MAM-L), anti-tank UMTAS missiles, Bozok missiles, TOGAN grenades, and more. With redundant nav systems and autonomous takeoff/landing, it’s been used for surveillance and precision strikes, particularly against air defenses and logistics, in conflicts such as those in Libya, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine.
- AAI RQ-7 Shadow (USA)
A tactical reconnaissance UAV for ground maneuver forces. It launches via pneumatic catapult and recovers via net capture. Equipped with a stabilized EO/IR camera for real-time video via C-band. Utilized for scouting, surveillance, target identification, and battle damage assessment. In service with several armies, including the USA, Australia, Sweden, and Turkey.
Large Strategic Drones
- Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk (USA)
A high-altitude, long-endurance (HALE) reconnaissance drone using SAR and EO/IR sensors for broad intelligence gathering. In service since 2001, known for precision data collection and supporting operations globally. Flyaway cost around USD 131 million (2013), up to USD 223 million including development.
- General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (USA)
A larger, better-armed drone than the Predator, with a 950 hp turboprop engine. Maximum speed ~480 km/h, payload up to ~1,700 kg. Flight endurance up to 30 hours for ISR missions, 23 hours fully armed. Range ~1,850 km, operational ceiling ~25,000 ft. The Extended Range version offers longer flight time and improved sensors/weapons systems.
- S-70 Okhotnik-B (Hunter-B)
A heavy stealth UCAV developed by Sukhoi/MiG, a “loyal wingman” design. Weighs ~20 t, ~20 m wingspan, speeds up to 1,000 km/h, ceiling 12,000–18,000 m. Combat radius of 4,000–6,000 km, internal weapons capacity of 2,000–2,800 kg. Equipped with EO/IR, SAR, and ELINT systems, relying on stealth materials. Designed for SEAD, precision strikes, reconnaissance, and electronics warfare, often paired with Su-57 fighters.
Countermeasures Against Drones
Every weapon brings countermeasures, and drone warfare has spawned many techniques to defend against them:
- Bukovel-AD (Ukraine) A mobile electronic warfare system by Proximus LLC. Detects drones up to 100 km out and jams GPS/GLONASS/Galileo/Beidou within 20 km. Successfully used against Russian Orlan-10 drones.
- EDM4S “SkyWiper” (Lithuania) A portable “anti-drone” rifle that jams common drones. Range 3–5 km, around USD 15,000 each. Used by Ukraine to neutralize small reconnaissance drones.
- Iron Beam (Israel) A high-energy laser system operational for drone takedown. Precise, low cost per shot (~USD 3.50), effective against mass drone attacks.
- Leonidas (Epirus, USA) A high-power microwave (HPM) system capable of disabling entire drone swarms simultaneously. Covers large areas, radio-independent, and distinguishes friend from foe. Mountable on vehicles (e.g., Stryker) or in compact pods or naval versions.
- Krasukha-2/4 (Russia) A mobile Russian EW system with a range of 250–300 km. Targets radar-guided drones and electronics.
- Bhargavastra (India) A drone-counter system using microrockets for hard-kill. Detection range 6–10 km, interception up to 2.5 km. Aimed at neutralizing swarms affordably.
- DroneGun Mk4 (DroneShield, Australia/USA) A compact, portable C-UAS “gun” with RF antennas to jam control, navigation, and video links of multiple drones at once.
Conclusion — Ethical and Legal Consequences of AI and Drones
Alongside their military and wartime uses, it’s important to consider the ethical and legal consequences of using drones. Employing drones to target civilian sites, or engaging in ‘drone safaris’ where civilians are targeted with improvised FPV drones, has spurred serious accusations of war crimes. Human rights organizations have documented such cases and called for accountability.
Furthermore, the increasing autonomy in deciding life and death, that is, how much decision-making a drone can perform itself, remains a heated topic in international debate and regulation. Future drones will become bigger, more precise, and more autonomous, but that places decisions about life and death in the hands of a tool without morality, remorse, or mercy.
Any misstep by such a machine can lead to collateral damage to civilians, women, and children, so who will be blamed, and who will be held responsible, if the machine itself made the lethal decision?
https://cryptonftworlds.blogspot.com/2025/08/targeted-israeli-airstrike-in-gaza-and.html
Greetings, and until my next article!
Neo77
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