From artificial intelligence that plans attacks in minutes, to legacy solutions that halt cutting-edge technology, to silent cyber espionage: here is the essential guide to understanding the profound transformations that are changing the face of modern warfare
When Volodymyr Zelensky took the stand at the United Nations in September, he made a warning that went unheeded. The world runs the risk of “seeing combat drones attacking infrastructure and people, completely autonomously and without any human involvement”, warned the president of a country that daily challenges the rules of war. But Zelensky was not describing a distant future, but the logical evolution of a conflict that became the largest military technology laboratory in history. These are some of the aspects that are changing in war as we know it.
The all-seeing eye
The revolution begins with the ability to see. From drones that cannot be intercepted by electronic warfare weapons, to massive information processing systems that improve planning and, ultimately, save lives. An example of this takes place in an artificial intelligence center at the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. Every month, this department receives tens of thousands of videos from the frontline that are analyzed by Artificial Intelligence (AI). This capability allows information to be processed on an unprecedented scale, identifying targets and integrating everything into a single map, in real time.
AI can cross-reference images from commercial satellites, reports from spies on the ground, intercepted radio signals, drone videos and even social media posts to create a “digital twin” of the battlefield. This is a genuine revolution when compared to the methods used a few years ago, where an officer had to draw everything on paper, with the information taking hours to arrive.
Today, systems like those developed by the American company Palantir are capable of reducing the military planning cycle from hours to minutes. These systems are not limited to detecting the target: they calculate, based on the available logistical capabilities, the best weapon to destroy it in the shortest possible time.
Droid armies
In Ukraine, a country where the need for defense matches perfectly with a huge number of people trained in information technology, there are companies dedicated to solving the army’s main problem: the lack of infantry. Kiev has had difficulty countering Moscow’s numerical superiority on the front line and there are companies, such as DevDroid, that are working to create heavy machine gun automation systems, capable of detecting people, tracking them and opening fire if a human operator decides to fire.
One of the areas where Artificial Intelligence could have the greatest impact, over the next year, is in the field of interception drones. The software on board these aerial munitions is capable of detecting targets before a human can do so and moving with greater agility than a pilot. This type of systems is not yet being used en masse, but according to the programmers who develop the technology, it is possible that they will begin operating as early as the end of 2026.
But the revolution is not just air and land. Ukraine has expanded the use of unmanned systems to the maritime domain (USVs), using water-based “kamikaze” drones to challenge Russian naval control in the Black Sea and attack offshore infrastructure, proving that it is possible to cripple a conventional navy without having traditional warships.
A “low-tech” solution
While armies of engineers fight daily to find the most advanced technological solution, simple solutions emerge on the front lines to counter top advances. One of the best examples can be found in Ukrainian cities close to the front line: tons of discarded fishing nets, once used to catch fish, are now being sent to “fish” for Russian drones.
The original idea came from the Russian side, the first to have to deal with mass drone attacks. Today, thousands of kilometers of Ukrainian roads are being “covered” with these nets, made to withstand the impact of strong fish. These structures play a crucial role in protecting trenches, roads and even hospitals, completely changing the visual aspect of warfare with network “tunnels” becoming more common.
The concept is simple: the networks work like giant spider webs. When drones try to reach targets, their propellers become entangled in the resistant mesh, rendering the device unusable before detonation.
The ethical frontier
For now, practically all autonomous solutions that involve the use of Artificial Intelligence are created with the “human-on-the-loop” concept, i.e., the final trigger decision always belongs to the human being. Industry and international organizations fear that completely autonomous systems — called “human-out-of-the-loop” — could violate the rules of war, being unable to differentiate civilians or soldiers who surrender.
The war for information
However, today everything is a weapon and one of the main battlefields is information. Countries like Russia and China have developed complex structures capable of having effects that allow them to achieve strategic objectives without firing a shot. The Russian invasion of Ukraine went far beyond the plains of Donbass; Moscow has launched a vast disinformation campaign aimed at undermining Western support for Kiev.
This trend is here to stay and AI tools are here to intensify it. According to analysts at MIT Technology Review, this scenario could be used with particular effectiveness in 2027, the date when most military analysts believe that China could launch an offensive against Taiwan. At the same time that tens of thousands of drones would attempt to overwhelm the island’s air defenses, a vast disinformation campaign, carried out by “bot factories”, would flood social media to break the Taiwanese defense will.
Salt Typhoon
Artificial Intelligence creates even more complications for democracies in the cyber field. In 2023, the United States, the leading global technological power, was hit by operation “Salt Typhoon”. A group of hackers linked to the Chinese secret services managed to infiltrate the main American telecommunications companies. Hackers used compromised routers and servers to move across networks and find advantageous spying positions.
The attack allowed something that American authorities never thought possible: copying conversations and mapping the movements of members of the secret services and agents dedicated to counterintelligence. In an article in Foreign Affairs magazine, Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cybersecurity, warns that this trend will intensify with the capabilities generated by AI.
AI as a shield
However, the same technology that attacks is the one that defends. Currently, AI is already used to detect patterns and anomalies in networks in real time. If a valve in a digital water treatment plant acts strangely, AI detects the intrusion before it causes physical harm. Rather than trying to “plug all the holes,” AI helps identify which critical vulnerabilities, if exploited, would cause cascading failures. In this new era, victory will not only depend on who has the fastest missile, but who has the most resilient algorithm.
