LONDON — Alexander Kokhanovskyy, CEO of Aero Center, stated that fully autonomous drones operated by his company killed Russian soldiers during a battlefield test two years ago. The test involved quadcopter drones preprogrammed to fly to a front-line area, where an AI targeting system then activated to engage targets.

Kokhanovskyy stated the autonomous drones caused the deaths after human-piloted drones surveying the test area located multiple deceased Russian soldiers. The U.S. Department of Defense defines lethal autonomous weapons as systems capable of selecting and engaging targets without further human intervention once activated. The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs notes that there is currently no commonly accepted definition for a lethal autonomous weapon system.

Reports from the battlefield indicate that fully autonomous weapons are not yet widely deployed in Ukraine. Kateryna Bondar, a former advisor to the Ukrainian government, reported that these systems are not yet a battlefield reality. A Ukrainian military commander also stated that drone pilots primarily utilize semi-autonomous systems, requiring human operators to make crucial control decisions.

Ukrainian interceptor drone systems require a human operator to perform initial target selection and initiate strike commands, with the ability to cancel attacks. AI-driven navigation has reportedly increased the success rate of Ukrainian drone strikes, rising from approximately 10 to 20 percent to 70 to 80 percent. Ukraine's defense industry trains small AI models on limited datasets, enabling them to operate on low-power chips for autonomous navigation and target recognition functions.

No independent assessment was available for this report.