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"Such technology represents our coming danger," cautions Serhiy Beskrestnov, that recently obtained a recently captured enemy unmanned aerial vehicle.

It was no ordinary device either, it was revealed. Assisted by AI, this unmanned aerial vehicle can locate and attack objectives autonomously.

The consultant has examined many unmanned systems in his capacity as Ukrainian military advisor.

In contrast to previous versions, it didn't send or accept communications, causing it to be impossible to disrupted.

Russian and Ukrainian militaries have both been testing AI in this war, and for certain tasks they are already using it, for finding targets, intelligence collection and de-mining.

For the nation's military, AI is now essential.

"Our armed forces receives more than 50,000 video streams [from the front line] monthly that get analysed by artificial intelligence," says Ukraine's deputy defence minister.

"It helps us rapidly handle huge volumes of information, identify targets and place them on a digital chart."

AI-Empowered Tech as a Critical Asset

AI-empowered technology is seen as a tool that improves strategic planning, make the most of assets and in the end save lives.

But when it comes to autonomous armaments, it's transforming the battlefield.

The country's soldiers already use AI-based software enabling drones lock on a objective and subsequently fly autonomously for the last few hundred metres till the mission concludes.

Signal disruption cannot be done and shooting down such small flying object proves difficult.

In the future these systems are expected to become completely independent weapons that can detect and eliminate objectives by themselves.

All a soldier will need to do is press a button on a mobile application, notes a tech executive, head of Ukrainian tech company.

The drone handles everything else, he says, finding the objective, releasing explosives, evaluating the impact and then coming back to headquarters.

"It doesn't demand flight experience from the user," he continues.

Defensive Systems and Future Advancements

Defensive drones with that kind of autonomous capability could greatly enhance air defences targeting Russian remote strike aircraft, such as the infamous certain models.

"A computer-guided autonomous system is better than a person in numerous aspects," explains the executive. "It can be sharper. It can see the objective sooner than a person. It is more agile."

The official says that kind of system is not yet available, but he mentions the country is close to finishing its development. "They've partly implemented it in some devices," says the representative.

It's possible there will be many thousands of these technologies deployed by the end of 2026, predicts Azhnyuk.

Concerns and Dangers of Total Autonomy

However Ukrainian creators are cautious about completely relying on defence systems that rely entirely on AI, without any operator input. The risk is that AI may fail to distinguish a friendly soldier from a hostile one, since both could be wearing the same uniform, notes an engineer, who declined to give his surname.

His company produces remote-operated automatic weapons, that employ artificial intelligence to automatically detect individuals and follow them. Because of concerns over accidental attacks, he says they don't have an auto-fire option.

"We can enable it, but we must get more experience and more feedback from the ground forces in order to determine the safe conditions to employ this capability."

Moral Issues and International Rules

Additionally, there are fears that AI-driven technologies will violate the rules of war. How will they prevent injuring civilians, or distinguish personnel who want to surrender?

For the deputy defence minister, the ultimate choice in such circumstances must be made by a person, even if AI could make it "easier to decide". Yet it's not certain that nations or armed groups will follow international humanitarian norms.

Therefore counteracting such technologies becomes increasingly critical.

How can one halt a "mass of unmanned craft" when electronic warfare or employing jets, armored vehicles or rockets proves useless?

The nation's very effective "Web" operation, when 100 unmanned aircraft targeted enemy military airports last June, was probably supported by artificial intelligence.

Many in Ukraine fear that Moscow may replicate this approach, not only on the front line but beyond it too.

The country's president cautioned the United Nations recently that AI was contributing to "the worst arms race in history."

He called for global rules for the application of AI in weapons, and said the matter is "equally pressing as stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons."