Russian Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that super-heavy "king" drones capable of carrying thousands of small UAVs may appear in the near future.
This information was stated by Mr. Medvedev in an article published in Expert Magazine.
According to him, the boom in the production of unmanned systems globally has created a series of completely new threats to many important targets such as: large urban areas, energy facilities, social infrastructure and other key infrastructure projects, as well as defense industrial facilities and military bases.
It is here, based on combat experience in Russia's special military operation, that a series of completely new capabilities have emerged" - Mr. Medvedev wrote.
According to him, in the near future, we may witness the development and widespread deployment of new generation UAV platforms, sea-going autonomous ships capable of deploying many different types of unmanned systems and super-heavy drones that can play the role of signal transponder stations and vehicles carrying hundreds to thousands of small UAVs.
According to the Vice Chairman of the Russian Security Council, thanks to the optimization of control systems and algorithms, especially through artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analysis technologies, the fact that one operator can coordinate the entire "troop" of UAVs at the same time is no longer a big problem.
The operating range of UAVs and the amount of data transmitted have also been significantly expanded thanks to modern telecommunications systems, including satellite communication.
Also in the article, Mr. Medvedev said that the use of drones on the ground is creating a completely new reality for rules and ethics in conflict.
He believes that drones keep people away from the reality of conflict, thereby lowering the threshold for using force and blurring ethical responsibility. "In the near future that experts imagine, drones will make attackers increasingly alienated from victims, turning violent behavior into something like an attractive shooting game," he wrote.
According to Mr. Medvedev, this form of "distant warfare" creates a dangerous psychological barrier, making the use of force easier, while completely overshadowing ethical responsibility.
Mr. Medvedev also worried that when drones are widely used, the concept of war as a direct life-threatening danger to fighters will gradually be erased, creating the illusion of "clean" and "almost bloodless" conflicts.
The Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council warned that assigning murder decisions to artificial intelligence algorithms in automated combat systems could create a dangerous paradox. These systems have no awareness, no compassion or sympathy, but are empowered to decide issues related to human life and death.
He questioned whether this is in accordance with the provisions of international humanitarian law and whether the world needs new international treaties to regulate this type of weapon.
