Russian V2U AI drone operates autonomously without communication links in Ukraine
Russian forces deployed the V2U autonomous drone in Ukraine equipped with AI for target recognition and autonomous navigation without communication links. Ukrainian experts report the drones have attacked civilian crowds, and electronic warfare countermeasures cannot disable them because they operate independently.
What happened
Ukrainian defence forces captured a Russian V2U drone that operates with artificial intelligence and autonomous navigation without any communication links. Ukrainian expert Serhiy Beskrestnov reported finding three captured V2U units completely without LTE modems, meaning the drones have no communication channels at all.
The V2U drone uses AI to autonomously search for targets and recognize objects, orienting and attacking targets without remote control. Electronic warfare measures cannot disable its navigation or command systems because there are no communication links to suppress.
Reported impact
According to Beskrestnov, the drone poses a 'threat of the future' by being able to independently patrol roads or railway lines searching for attack targets. Instances have occurred where the drone attacked crowds of people at a market.
Index analysis
The computing system of the V2U drone is based on a Chinese Leetop A203 minicomputer with high-speed assembly using NVIDIA Jetson Orin. Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence reported that Russian forces began actively using the V2U drone on the Sumy direction.
Governance controls
Ukrainian military units, including the 5th Separate Assault Brigade, successfully destroyed V2U drones using FPV interceptor drones.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.