Ukraine is turning to artificial intelligence to keep its drones flying even when Russia tries to knock them out of the sky electronically, according to a report highlighted by MSN.
Russia relies heavily on electronic warfare, or EW — systems that jam the radio and satellite signals drones depend on to navigate and stay linked to their operators. Jamming can sever that connection, sending a drone off course or bringing it down before it reaches its target.
The MSN report describes Ukrainian drones using AI and what it calls an "autopilot" capability to work around this interference. Rather than depending on a constant signal from a human pilot, the drones can lean on onboard intelligence to keep tracking and pressing toward their objective when jamming disrupts the link.
According to the report, this approach is being applied against incoming threats including cruise missiles and Shahed drones — the long-range attack drones Russia has used repeatedly against Ukrainian targets. The framing is one of Ukrainian innovation adapting faster than Russia's countermeasures can keep up.
The available details are limited, and the report does not specify the exact systems, manufacturers, or performance figures behind the technology.
Why it matters: the contest between drones and jamming is reshaping modern warfare, and shifting decision-making onto AI aboard the drone itself points toward more autonomous weapons on the battlefield — a shift with military and ethical consequences well beyond this war.