Ukraine's AI revolution: The future of war is here

Monday, November 10, 2025

On the battlefield of Ukraine, artificial intelligence is changing how modern conflict is being fought. AI is now built directly into deadly drones that patrol the battlefield, scanning terrain and processing videos as they search for enemy positions. Integrated computers analyzed that footage in real time, identifying vehicles, trenches and targets almost instantly, even when communication is jammed.

A mission that used to take 40 hours of analysis now takes seconds with AI. This means that the pace of combat is changing. The side that processes information fastest now holds the advantage, and the cost of falling behind is measured in lives.

This is Guillaume Ptak. And today we are taking a look at how AI is revolutionizing the modern battlefield, both in Ukraine and in future wars.

As AI speeds up the pace of warfare in Ukraine, it is also rewriting how the battlefield is managed. Footage and data from hundreds of drones now fly into “Delta,” a command network that fuses information into one shared picture.

Targets are tagged automatically, verified by humans and relayed to artillery within seconds. For operators, that means less time staring at screens and more time reacting to threats.

Twist Robotics, the Kyiv-based maker of the Saker Scout drone, calls its software a co-pilot, not a commander. A representative told the Times, it assists in detection and navigation, but it never fires automatically. Safeguards such as restricted flight zones and mandatory human approval ensure the final decision stays with operators.

Meanwhile, the United States has been slower to adapt. Retired Air Force Lieutenant General John Shanahan told the Times the Pentagon still spends too much on big hardware and not enough on code, while Ukraine’s front lines now rely on both.

Beyond the technology itself, Ukraine has changed how its drone crews are motivated. Under the Army of Drones program, for each verified strike, operators earn points they can then trade for new gear, a system that its proponents say rewards results and cuts through the bureaucracy.

In September, AI-assisted teams reported more and 18,000 verified Russian casualties, double the year before.

Commanders call it effective, and some operators say it fuels healthy competition, but the scoring system is also drawing scrutiny. A point-based system assigns values to targets, six points for an enemy soldier, for example, 40 for a destroyed tank, making the battlefield look uncomfortably like a video game.

Analysts warned that gamifying combat in such a way could dull restraint. Researchers at West Point’s Lieber Institute say the system must complement, not replace, command oversight and legal review.

As Ukraine leans deeper into automation, a debate is now emerging over where human judgment ends and machine precision begins. Supporters inside Ukraine’s defense industry see AI as a practical necessity, a way to level the playing field against a larger, better-armed opponent.

Andrii Hrytseniuk, head of the government’s Brave1 Defense Tech Initiative, says the technology does not make war any easier; it makes it fairer and faster.

But legal and ethical experts see a growing risk.

Researchers at West Point warned that when communication breaks down, or seconds decide survival, control can quietly shift from humans to machines. Yaroslav Honshar, who works with drone units positioned along the front line, says those moments expose a real dilemma.

“When a Shahed drone heads toward your city, the moral question is how to stop it in time.”

As the two sides remain locked into bloody attritional warfare, the only thing that seems to be progressing is technology. And as we are still far off from a diplomatic resolution, the front line of Ukraine may remain an open-air laboratory for the innovations of modern warfare for the foreseeable future.