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Ukraine Just Changed Warfare Forever With AI-Guided Attack Drone Swarms, WSJ Reports
As militaries race to harness artificial intelligence, Ukraine has quietly moved from theory to battlefield application—deploying autonomous drone swarms that coordinate, adapt, and strike with minimal human oversight.
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![Photo of Ivan Khomenko]( "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
Ukraine has become the first military in history to conduct battlefield operations using drone swarms controlled by artificial intelligence, according to The Wall Street Journal on September 2.
The development marks a new phase in the development of unmanned aerial warfare, where groups of UAVs can coordinate and strike with limited human oversight.
Ukrainian forces are employing software developed by the local company Swarmer, which enables drones to communicate with each other, identify targets, and adapt mid-mission.
Analysts cited by the publication say these missions mark the first known routine use of swarm technology in war.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that Ukrainian units have already carried out more than one hundred swarm operations. A Ukrainian officer confirmed that a common formation involves three drones—one reconnaissance platform and two carrying small bombs.
After being assigned a target area, the reconnaissance drone maps a route while the strike drones decide themselves when and how to release their payload. This approach reduces the number of operators needed: three personnel instead of nine in conventional missions.
Swarmer’s chief executive, Serhii Kupriienko, told the WSJ that the system allows UAVs to adjust if one fails, such as when a battery runs out.
He noted that the technology has been tested with up to 25 drones and that larger-scale trials of swarms exceeding 100 UAVs are planned. The company, partially funded by US investors, initially deployed its software for remote mining before expanding to reconnaissance and precision strikes.
The WSJ also notes that the use of artificial intelligence in combat has also raised ethical debates. Current US and NATO policy requires a human decision-maker in the so-called kill chain, but Ukraine’s example shows how AI is increasingly being integrated into real-time battlefield coordination. Swarmer maintains that a human still authorizes the final strike.
Other militaries, including the US, China, France, Russia, and South Korea, are developing swarm technologies, yet Ukraine remains the only country confirmed to be using them regularly in combat.
Experts cited by the WSJ underline that even limited autonomous teaming is a significant milestone, while full-scale swarms of hundreds of drones remain a future objective.
Earlier, General Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, urged defense firms to test their technologies in Ukraine if they want to sell to NATO. He emphasized that Ukraine offers a rare real-world combat environment against a peer adversary, and said feedback from Ukrainian forces is already shaping future procurement strategies across the alliance.
-24ca8683eb01b729cd8fae98f952003a.jpg "Ukrainian Ratel-S drone equipped with a downed Shahed warhead. (Source: omelyanovi4/Instagram)")
-0158b6b681e3668f470de36aedad9e3c.jpg "Russian Su-24 bomber moments before Ukrainian drone strike, Crimea. (Source: HUR)")
