AI is reshaping drone warfare in Russia and Ukraine

SLOVIANSK, UKRAINE — It looked like an ordinary, modest house on the outskirts of Sloviansk, a small city just behind the front line in eastern Ukraine.But the parlor’s heavy furniture had been replaced by folding tables and six big flat-screen TVs.

Five men in fatigues monitored the images flashing across the screens: direct feeds from some three dozen first-person-view (FPV) drones hovering above the front line just 15 miles away. There were no fighters in the images and no weapons or military vehicles.Both Russians and Ukrainians have learned to keep all that hidden from the drones constantly swarming overhead.

But the invaders could still advance at any moment, and the soldiers in the command center — members of a new unit called “Heavenly Punishment” — scoured the video feeds, zooming in and out on tree lines and scattered rocks that might disguise foxholes. A sixth screen integrated the information from the feeds: a giant animated map showing both sides’ positions and assets — a Russian tank here, a Russian surveillance drone loitering there.No one spoke as the men watched and probed, waiting for the opportunity to order a strike, either by an attack drone or one of the unit’s few remaining artillery cannons.In two and a half years of war, drones have transformed the fighting in Ukraine.

Autonomous devices come in all shapes and sizes — reconnaissance drones, attack drones, sea drones, even unmanned vehicles for medical evacuations.Most of the FPV drones feeding the screens in Sloviansk are just 10 inches long, made from cheap commercial components, usually Chinese, and powered by rotors. At the other end of the spectrum, large, expensive devices with fixed wings — some resemble small airplanes — can strike up to 1,000 kilometers away, delivering massive payloads.

In the past year, Ukrainian drones have destroyed or damaged 200 airfields and oil refineries deep inside Russia. The new technology is driving dramatic changes on the...