General AI: How artificial intelligence became a key tool for the Ukrainian military

Autonomous systems also use AI algorithms for navigation and orientation. Such technologies allow a drone to analyze its surroundings, avoid obstacles, adjust its route, and adapt to changes in the environment — all while carrying out a mission.

Combining AI with data from cameras, sensors, and navigation systems creates the basis for more independent operation of unmanned platforms. A key feature of the Hornet UAV is its combination of satellite navigation and inertial-optical navigation. If the satellite signal is lost, the aircraft can still determine its position using images of the terrain.

A similar navigation principle was used by NASA’s Ingenuity, the first Mars helicopter. Because Mars has no satellite navigation system, the aircraft oriented itself using images of the surface below. Drones using a similar navigation principle have been nicknamed “Martians.”

An important technological challenge involves ensuring drones can operate under conditions of active electronic warfare, which suppresses control signals, data transmission, and satellite navigation. Cameras and lenses allow Hornet drones to lock onto targets from an average distance of 300 to 500 meters, allowing the UAV to dive autonomously onto a target from an altitude of 200 to 300 meters or to strike a target from roughly the same distance while flying at low altitude.

In that mode, most vehicle-mounted EW systems become ineffective. If a Hornet loses contact with its base, it does not abort the operation; instead, the drone selects a target and attacks it on its own, making it nearly insensitive to electronic warfare systems.

One of the technologies Schmidt’s company is working on is anti-aircraft UAVs. Its Merops system combines a high-speed platform, computer vision, and guidance algorithms that allow it to detect, track, and destroy aerial targets. Traditional air defense was designed mainly to counter aircraft and missiles, but the mass use of drones has forced militaries to look for new approaches. Anti-aircraft drones are a cheaper alternative to using expensive surface-to-air missiles against mass drone attacks, and interceptor drones have become part of a new layered air defense system.

The initiative showed rapid growth during Fedorov’s brief tenure as Ukraine’s defense minister. As part of the Ukrainian army’s announced technological transformation, Ukraine’s Air Force managed to increase the interception rate for Shahed drones from 83% to 91% in just six months.

Notably, immediately after Fedorov resigned as defense minister, Karp invited him to take part in a joint project, and Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto offered him an adviser’s post. Fedorov, however, decided to remain in Ukraine to work on technology that he believes can change the nature of modern combat.

In addition to software and artificial intelligence, scaling production has become an important part of Perennial Autonomy’s approach. Modern war has shown that the effectiveness of unmanned systems depends not only on their specifications but also on manufacturers’ ability to quickly produce them in large quantities.

If Palantir helps Ukraine work with data more effectively, Perennial Autonomy is trying to solve another problem: how to quickly turn that data into a real battlefield advantage. That is why cooperation between Ukraine and Schmidt’s company is not limited to supplying individual drones — it is a long-term partnership in the production, development, and deployment of new defense technologies.

Ukraine has effectively become one of the world’s main centers for the development of military drones. No laboratory or test range can reproduce conditions like those on a real front, as developers receive constant feedback from troops using autonomous control algorithms, computer vision systems, and anti-EW solutions directly in combat.

In March 2026, Fedorov said the Defense Ministry was giving its corporate partners access to real battlefield data in order to better train their AI models. The result, he said, would benefit both sides: Ukraine receives access to new technology, while Schmidt’s company can improve its systems more quickly.