{"id":615584,"date":"2026-06-01T17:28:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T17:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/615584\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T17:28:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T17:28:12","slug":"ukraine-how-a-kamikaze-drone-partially-operated-by-ai-is-attacking-russian-convoys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/615584\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine: How a kamikaze drone partially operated by AI is attacking Russian convoys"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the past few months, a drone has been prowling Russian logistics routes. The Hornet, which the Russians call the “Martian-2”, is a mid-range kamikaze drone partially piloted by artificial intelligence.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The drone\u00a0\u2013 which is built of polystyrene, has a 2-metre wingspan and a range of more than 100 km \u2013 costs $6,000 USD. It can hit a target at a speed of 200 km\/h and can carry a 4.5kg payload. After the drone is launched using a catapult, it flies using an electric propeller motor, which means that it is nearly silent, according to Russian sources. It is piloted using two cameras.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The US-designed Hornet was developed by the American company Perennial Autonomy<\/a>, which was founded and financed by former Google<\/a> CEO, Eric Schmidt<\/a>. This drone is frequently used in US Army training exercises<\/a>. However, in July 2025, Perennial Autonomy \u2013 then called Swift Beat\u00a0\u2013\u00a0made a deal to supply Ukraine with drones<\/a>. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> announced on May 5 that Ukraine<\/a> had quadrupled<\/a> its number of mid-range strikes, meaning those beyond 20 kilometres, between February and April 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

This shows a Hornet drone on its launcher. \u00a9 US Army <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Once the drone is in Russian-occupied territory, it can apparently pilot itself using artificial intelligence, a system that makes it less vulnerable to Russian signal jamming.<\/p>\n

The drone is said to be able to automatically identify its targets before striking. It is, however, very difficult to know the precise role played by artificial intelligence in the decision taken to strike. Our team contacted Perennial Autonomy, who did not want to comment on the drone\u2019s piloting system. The Ukrainian Army did not respond to our questions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Elite Ukrainian units like the Azov<\/a> and Khartia<\/a> Brigades have been posting images of Hornet drones<\/a> striking Russian supply convoys. On his Telegram<\/a> channel, Russian military blogger Alexander Kharchenko<\/a> admitted that Russian \u201clogistics is seriously disrupted\u201d. He said that the Hornet is allowing Ukrainians to strike at an unprecedented distance: \u201cUntil recently, the guys were easily carrying out patrols 50 kilometres from the frontlines. But now, this area is under fire by the Hornets.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018The drone approaches its target silently, we don\u2019t have time to react\u2019\u00a0 <\/p>\n

In video after video, the same scene repeats over and over. The drone flies over the area, spots a Russian truck or another piece of equipment and marks its target with a red square. Then, it hurtles toward its target to detonate.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

This video shows a Russian truck being targeted by a Hornet flown by the Azov brigade. \u00a9 X \/ azov_media <\/p>\n

On Telegram, another Russian military blogger<\/a> described how Hornet drones work: \u201cIn most cases, the drone flies at a low altitude (around 200 m) all along our roads. It identifies its target and attacks. The drone approaches its target silently, most of the time, we don\u2019t have time to react.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

This video, posted on April 16, 2026 by the Azov Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine shows eight successive strikes on Russian equipment. X \/ azov_media<\/p>\n

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A drone striking behind the lines\u00a0 <\/p>\n

On May 8, the Azov<\/a> Brigade deployed a Hornet drone in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which is occupied by the Russians. They flew over the edges of the city, which is more than 100 kilometres from any Ukrainian positions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This video, published by the Azov Brigade on May 9, 2026, shows a Hornet drone flying over the occupied city of Mariupol, which is more than 100 km from Ukrainian positions. X \/ azov_media<\/p>\n

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\"This<\/p>\n

This shows a Hornet drone deployed by the Azov Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine flying over the gates of the city of Mariupol, which is occupied by Russian troops. Location: 47\u00b013’21.08″N 47\u00b013’21.08″N \u00a9 X \/ azov_media <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the first time that a Hornet has flown so far: according to an analysis by the FRANCE 24 Observers, out of 13 videos of drone strikes posted online by different Ukrainian units, nine of them took place more than 80 kilometres from the front line.\u00a0<\/p>\n

George Barros<\/a>, director of innovation at the Institute for the Study of War<\/a>, says that the Hornet is partially guided using artificial intelligence:\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Once the Hornet enters Russian territory, its partial AI guidance allows it to independently select its target. Even without a connection to the pilot, the drone can recognise a Russian truck or armoured vehicle. This makes it resistant to jamming, since it no longer depends entirely on the signal used by the pilot to guide it.<\/p>\n

The Hornet is also capable of flying autonomously during the final meters of the attack thanks to artificial intelligence. This is particularly useful because some Russian vehicles are equipped with jammers. However, the precise role of AI in the drone\u2019s operation remains unclear.\u201c<\/p>\n

According to the researcher, this system enables the drone to strike far behind Russian lines, most notably in the Mariupol region:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMariupol is a major logistical hub, with numerous highways connecting southern Ukraine to the Donetsk region. Large numbers of troops and significant quantities of ammunition transit through this area.<\/p>\n

Using small FPV-type kamikaze drones, the Ukrainians were already able to strike Russian positions located up to 30 kilometres from the front line. With missiles and long-range drones, they can hit Russian refineries hundreds \u2014 even thousands \u2014 of kilometres away.<\/p>\n

But there is an operational gap between 30 km and 120 km that allows the Russians to deploy their logistics and prepare their assaults. It is within this space, referred to as the \u2018intermediate depth,\u2019 that the Ukrainians are trying to operate.\u201d<\/p>\n

When a Russian organisation is able to study the drone <\/p>\n

Russian Telegram channel Ghost_Malleus_Maleficarum<\/a>, which specialises in the technical analysis of Ukrainian drones, reported that the Hornet has a \u201csuccess rate above 80%\u201d. Meaning that volunteers from the Coordination Centre for Assistance to Novorossiya (KCPN), an organisation that trains Russian soldiers in operating drones, were thrilled to get their hands on a downed drone that they could study. Volunteers from this organisation wrote a 100-page report<\/a> on the components of a Hornet drone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"In<\/p>\n

In their report, KCPN analyses the components that make up Hornet drones in great detail. \u00a9 kcpn.info <\/p>\n

The document describes the drone\u2019s ability to use artificial intelligence and mentions that they contain Qualcom<\/a>m<\/a>\u00a0processors, a unit capable of processing data from several cameras present on the engine using artificial intelligence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Russian military blogger UAVDEV<\/a> reported that the signal enabling a pilot to remotely control the drone is hidden amongst civilian wifi traffic, which enables it to circumnavigate Russian electronic war systems that don\u2019t jam non-military wifi.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"These<\/p>\n

These photos, taken by Russians, show the antennas in the drone\u2019s wings. \u00a9 kcpn.info <\/p>\n

Russian military bloggers admit that the drone detectors currently used by the Russian army have blind spots that include the radio frequencies used by the Hornet. KCPN reported that the Ukrainians obtained and analysed Russian detectors, enabling them to adapt this new wave of Ukrainian drones. The report castigates the designers of the Russian jammers, who aren\u2019t admitting their failures to stop Ukrainian drones.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Barros says that electronic warfare alone is not sufficient to counter the threat of drones.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJammers cannot be 100% effective against drones. They can only operate on limited frequencies \u2014 it is impossible to jam every frequency at once. A jammer can only disrupt signals within a limited geographical area determined by its range, so choices have to be made. These systems also cannot operate continuously around the clock because they need to be recharged.<\/p>\n

There is no miracle solution. The Russians will have to adapt the entirety of their logistics and supply train if they want to protect the rear.”<\/p>\n

This article has been translated from the original in French<\/a> by Brenna Daldorph.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the past few months, a drone has been prowling Russian logistics routes. The Hornet, which the Russians…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":615585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[554,733,4308,142,591,154,86,209462,56,157,209463,54,55],"class_list":["post-615584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-drones","tag-europe","tag-russia","tag-technology","tag-the-observers","tag-uk","tag-ukraine","tag-ukraine-war-analysis","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/615585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}