Great Britain and allies planning to give Ukraine drones with artificial intelligence

The UK is working with countries, including the US, to provide Ukraine with thousands of new artificial intelligence drones that could simultaneously attack Russian military targets. Drones will use AI to communicate with each other to target enemy positions, without each of them having to be controlled by a human operator.

Western military strategists developing the technology believe it could allow Ukraine to destroy certain Russian positions using unmanned vehicles. The drones can be sent to Ukraine within a few months, but with the caveat that the deadlines may shift.

Drones are becoming increasingly important in the Russian-Ukrainian war as the conflict nears its two-year mark, and there is already a global race to develop new technologies that could define the future of warfare. Russia is ramping up its own production of combat drones to support the invasion and has received significant supplies from Iran.

The coalition of allies of Ukraine has committed to deliver 1 million drones to the country within a year. The military said it used naval drones to destroy a Russian warship in the Black Sea last week. In January, White House officials met with defense companies to discuss innovative combat technologies that could help Ukraine fight the Russian invasion.

The emphasis on drones comes as Ukraine faces an artillery shortage, a situation that could become so critical in the coming months that the military may have to decide to focus on a narrower front in the war