Ukrainian startup uses AI to guide drones to targets

Yaroslav Azhnyuk, a 37-year-old computer scientist, pivoted from consumer tech to defense manufacturing after Russia’s 2022 invasion. He now runs The Fourth Law and Odd Systems, two Ukraine-based firms that produce AI-powered drones for the military. Dozens of Ukrainian units currently deploy the Lupynis-10-TFL-1, an autonomous drone that combines a first-person-view platform with an onboard guidance unit.

The system relies on deep-learning neural networks trained on hours of combat footage. This software recognizes specific targets, including tanks, light-armored vehicles, and flying objects. Azhnyuk notes that the onboard computer takes over during the last 500 meters, or 0.3 miles, of the flight path. This allows the drone to navigate and strike without constant human input.

During a test in an overgrown field near Kyiv, a pilot named Professor guided the drone with a control stick. Upon selecting a dilapidated car as the target, a red flash appeared on the monitor, indicating a lock. The pilot released the stick, and the drone flew itself to the vehicle. Stab, the head of the test and integration team, explained that the microcomputer runs algorithms to keep the drone on course. On the battlefield, this autonomous phase would deliver an explosive payload.

Zelenskyy has warned that AI could lead battlefield decisions as soon as next year. Azhnyuk acknowledges the speed advantage of these systems. He states that enemy systems can make decisions in microseconds, while human control often takes minutes or days. He argues that if Russia uses AI for offensive decisions and Ukraine refuses it for defense, Ukraine will lose. "If Ukraine loses," Azhnyuk said, "there's no way for us to argue about the ethics of AI."

The drone’s name honors Anatoliy Lupynis, a 20th-century Ukrainian poet and political activist who endured Soviet imprisonment. The company names its weapons after Ukrainian intellectuals persecuted by Russians in the last century. Azhnyuk said this helps resurrect those figures, noting that their ideas are still with them. Before the war, Azhnyuk worked in Silicon Valley and co-founded Petcube, which sold one million AI-powered pet cameras in the United States.

Stab said the AI drones are difficult to jam and include safeguards to prevent them from going rogue. Humans still select the initial target. Azhnyuk described the current technology as simple calculators rather than killer robots. He said the drones are no more likely to cause an uprising than a warehouse full of artillery shells.