Russia has begun to use in Ukraine An improved version of their drones Shahed-136 that constitutes ‘A technological leap’ And it allows to see ‘The future of the Air War’. Last June, Ukraine knocked down in its territory what initially looked like another Shahed-136. However, when examined, it was discovered that it was not the Iranian design drones that Russia manufactures under the name Geran-2but of a much more advanced platform designated by Ukraine as MS001: an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Autonomous that integrates artificial intelligence, interference resistant navigation and selection capacity of real -time objectives.
The Ukrainian Division General Vladyslav Klochkovin a publication on LinkedIn, he said that ‘This autonomous combat platform sees, analyzes, decides and attacks without external commands”. He has described it, instead of merodeter ammunition, such as ‘A digital predator for which we are not prepared’ and that, unlike other drones, ‘He doesn’t have coordinates, he thinks’.
According to a technical analysis carried out by the Ukrainian military intelligence agency (Hur) On June 24 and published by United24Media, the MS001 uses a series of advanced electronic components that include 97 pieces of foreign originmostly from the United States, and the rest of China, Switzerland, Japan, Germany, Taiwan, Austria, South Korea and the Netherlands.
The MS001 conserves, of the Shahed-136, the same flight controller, power supply and navigation system, having received Improvements in signal processing, video transmission and AI capacities.
‘The quality of general construction is high. But Russia is still unlikely to completely manufacture this platform in its territory. The final assembly seems to be located, but many key technologies are foreign‘, says Hur. Which raises serious doubts about the effectiveness of export control and international sanctions to Russia.
Jetson Orin, computer with Nvidia
Among these components, the platform stands out Jetson Orin of the American company Nvidia. It is a Artificial Intelligence Module belonging to the family of products of the same name, which fits in the palm of the hand and offers a high processing capacity of AI, up to 275 billion operations per second (tops) in the most powerful models.
Nvidia has up to 8 variants of the Jetson Orin module, with prices that go From € 200 to € 2,000. The company presents them as ‘Computers with integrated’ which offer a ‘higher level AI performance for robotics and last generation perimeter solutions’.
In the new drone based on the Shahed-136, this hardware processes the artificial intelligence functions that allow it detect, prioritize and attack objectives without external orders, as well as guide themselves autonomously in the final attack phase. This makes it easier for drone to maneuver and achieve objectives even without GPS or under electronic interference of Ukrainian defenses.
Nvidia has pointed out that its Jetson Orin modules are consumer products aimed at students, developers and companies. ‘They are not available in Russia and are not designed for military purposes. If we discover that a Jetson distributor violates US export controls. We will cut the supply‘, the company said.
The United States prohibited exports of advanced chips to Russia in 2022 and has included hundreds of buyers in commercial lists. Even so, it has been estimated that Only in 2023 Nvidia components arrived in Russia for a value exceeding 17 million dollars Through gray market channels, using intermediaries that allow restrictions to skip.
The MS001 does not fly alone
Other advanced components of MS001 include a Thermal chamber For night operations, a Nasir GPS Module with CPA Antenna (Controlled Reception Pattern Antenna or Antena with controlled radiation pattern) to mitigate interference and signal blockages, FPGA chips (Field-Programmable Gate Array or Matrix of programmable doors in the field) that can be reconfigured to execute specific logical functions and a radio modem For telemetry and coordination of swarms.
MS001 is designed for Operate in coordinated swarms Able to adjust your paths dynamically, avoid aerial defenses even under electronic war conditions, share data with other units and compensate for the loss of other drones.
‘Most air defense systems They are not prepared for this. The massive deployment of unmanned planes such as MS001 is not just a threat, It is a challenge to our entire air defense doctrine‘, says Klochkov.
This jump from suicide drones of preprogrammed weapons to autonomous hunters Russia does not pursue it only. In the United States, Anduril Industries has presented kamikaze drones with AI and the Air Force He has successfully tried autonomous fighters capable of defeating human pilots in air combat simulations. But it is Russia who is already deploying these systems on the battlefield.
‘Russia is already testing on the battlefield the fight of tomorrow’s combat. While we celebrate acquisition rounds, they integrate technology into a unique adaptive system‘, writes Klochkov.