Ukraine to receive 50,000 Shrike drones with AI target tracking

In short: Ukraine is getting 50,000 Shrike drones upgraded with an AI system that can track and home in on moving targets, even if the drone loses its radio link.

What happened

Ukraine has started receiving Shrike first-person view (FPV) drones made by Ukrainian company SkyFall with new hardware and software from US company Auterion. The companies say they plan to deliver 50,000 of these upgraded drones in the coming months under a $100 million order backed by an unnamed European country.

The upgrade lets an operator fly the drone into an area, pick a target on the screen, and then switch the drone into an automatic “fire-and-forget” mode. In that mode, the drone can keep following the target on its own.

Auterion says the system can keep working even if the drone loses its connection to the operator. That can happen when buildings or terrain block the signal, or when an enemy jams the radio frequencies. The software uses only the drone’s main camera to track the target, like a person keeping their eyes on a moving car, and it does not need GPS. This matters because GPS signals are often disrupted in the war.

Auterion’s CEO Lorenz Meier said the AI-equipped Shrike costs about $2,000 each, compared with about $400 for a manually piloted version.

Why it matters

This shows how quickly low-cost drones are becoming more independent on the battlefield. Auterion also says the same kits could later support “swarms,” where one person directs multiple drones at once, like a single referee guiding a small team.

Source: Arstechnica