Future wars are drone wars."
Earlier too, the Tesla and SpaceX owner had asserted that future conflicts will be "drone wars", where their quality will play a major role.
According to a special report in Reuters, the war in Ukraine has been characterised by drone deployment of unprecedented scale.
"Drones have been used in warfare for decades – pilotless, radio-controlled aircraft were tested as far back as World War One.
Many manufacturers, politicians and pilots say they believe AI systems could be at the heart of drone warfare in the future.
File: A Ukrainian serviceman attaches ammunition to a suicide drone before a flight over Russian positions in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine (AP)
Billionaire Elon Musk said on Sunday that all future wars will be "drone wars" as he replied to a thread on X about how Ukraine is using cheap suicide drones to take down Russian tanks worth millions.
Jason DeBolt, a former software engineer and a Tesla investor, claimed on X that both Ukraine and Russia are using "tens of thousands of drones" per month amid their ongoing conflict.
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In his post, DeBolt spoke about how drones are revolutionising ground warfare and claimed that Ukraine has gone to the extent of seeking the supplies of suicide drones instead of tanks and other expensive equipment.
Moneycontrol could not independently verify the claims made by DeBolt.
He further painted a future scenario where "swarms of millions of suicidal drones" could possible wipe out hundreds of military targets in a single morning.
To this, Musk said: "Exactly. Future wars are drone wars."
Earlier too, the Tesla and SpaceX owner had asserted that future conflicts will be "drone wars", where their quality will play a major role.
"Any given battle roughly comes down to kill ratio times number of units, assuming both sides have roughly similar unit counts. This means that winning on kill ratio is irrelevant if the opponent has a much larger unit production advantage,” he had posted in his X account.
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The remarks come at a time when drones have started playing a prominent role in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine with both countries redefining modern warfare.
According to a special report in Reuters, the war in Ukraine has been characterised by drone deployment of unprecedented scale.
It said that thousands of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being used to track enemy forces, guide artillery and bomb targets.
"Drones have been used in warfare for decades – pilotless, radio-controlled aircraft were tested as far back as World War One. But the war in Ukraine has seen an explosion in the scale with which they're deployed," the report said.
The Wall Street Journal reported that both countries are in a constantly evolving battle to shoot down enemy craft and keep their own in the sky.
The WSJ report said that the war has seen Ukraine lose significant numbers of drones monthly due to Russian electronic warfare, with efforts intensifying to improve jamming resistance and autonomy.
Ukrainian companies like ISR and AeroDrone are constantly innovating, testing new equipment to filter out disruptive signals and improve drone resilience.
In fact, the report said that western firms are keen to learn from Ukraine's experiences, setting up research centers and forming partnerships to enhance drone technology against sophisticated electronic warfare.
AI-powered drones
Reuters reported that both Ukraine and Russia are now racing to develop drones guided by artificial intelligence.
These drones identify and lock onto their targets without the need for communication with their pilot, making them impervious to signal jamming.
AI target identification is already being used by both sides in a small number of drones.
"You cannot jam such a drone, because there is nothing to jam," a 20-year-old Ukrainian drone pilot from the 92nd brigade told Reuters.
Many manufacturers, politicians and pilots say they believe AI systems could be at the heart of drone warfare in the future.
