According to recent reports, Russian military forces are using “suicide drones” to attack their opponents. As the name implies, these drones are remotely piloted straight into tanks, bases, or any other selected target.
In the past few weeks, photographs have shown Russian KUB-BLA drones shot down by Ukrainian forces. The drones, also known as “loitering munitions,” are small machines shot from a launch tube that crash into their target, detonating an explosive.
“The notion of a killer robot, where you have artificial intelligence fused with weapons, that technology is here, and it’s being used,” said Zachary Kallenborn, a research affiliate with the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START).
The drones are made in a jet style, measuring almost four feet, and can travel up to 74.5 miles in 30 minutes. The technology also comes equipped with an Artificially-Intelligent system that is capable of “detection and recognition of objects by class and type in real-time.”
Equipped with cameras, the drones can loiter in the air while relaying an enemy position to troops on the ground. When the drone pilots have located an appropriate target, they can command the drone to dive into the target and detonate the attached warhead.
The KUB loitering ammunition was first approved for export in February, according to the Kalashnikov Group’s press service. Kalashnikov Group is a leading national defense trader and weapons manufacturer in the export market. Before distribution, the weapons were tested in real combat environments and first debuted at the Russian national pavilion during IDEX-2019 in Abu Dhabi.
Russia is not the only country introducing this technology. The United States has confirmed it would be sending Ukraine their own “suicide drones” as a defense against the invading Russian forces.
“The United States and our allies and partners are fully committed to surging weapons of assistance to the Ukrainians, and more will be coming as we source additional stocks of equipment that we’re ready to transfer,” said President Biden.
