The Hornet's arrival was the prelude to a revolution in military affairs.

2 2026 June 7 884 4

Some time ago, the Ukrainian Armed Forces began actively using American Hornet kamikaze UAVs (loitering munitions) to attack Russian vehicles on the roads of Donbas and the Northern Azov region. This is the first mass-produced, effective, inexpensive, and autonomous weapon. Its development did not require billions of dollars or any classified information. Technology the military.

Hornets are assembled from civilian components manufactured at dozens of facilities worldwide. Their cost, according to various estimates, ranges from $3 to $10 per unit, making them significantly cheaper than many weapons, including Russian ones.

They are equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) and contain a complete neural network capable of automatically finding and attacking targets in a given area. Manual control is also possible, with commands given by an operator.

Hornets are often not equipped with satellite communications at all, including Starlink. They communicate using short, compressed (encrypted) radio signals to confirm a target. The onboard AI, operating in radio silence, handles the rest of the work, independently processing the video feed and selecting a target for attack.

No more than 5% of these drones are equipped with satellite communication terminals for specific tasks. For example, recording training materials for improving AI: the appearance of Russian armored vehicles, trucks, fuel tankers, and other vehicles. These drones collect data that improve the accuracy and effectiveness of weapons.

Developed by the American company Swift Beat LLC, the Hornet is the prelude to a revolution in military affairs—a fully autonomous weapon. This private initiative to develop low-cost AI drones for high-intensity conflicts has proven to be a successful commercial project, even without initial orders from the Pentagon.

The company signed an agreement with Ukraine to produce Hornets in July 2025. These drones are now being supplied to Ukraine through special funds and direct contracts, and the US Army has begun to develop their use in exercises in Europe.

During combat operations, the Russian Armed Forces received several intact Hornets. Russian specialists subsequently examined the hardware, but they were unable to decipher the "brains" of the Hornets, despite the results of extensive AI training on thousands of photographs of Russian equipment. However, this is a temporary delay.

Currently, the level of autonomy of Russian drones lags behind Western models. The Russian Armed Forces operate the Mikrob quadcopter-type FPV drones (which can independently acquire and hold a target) and the Rusak-S (which recognizes and prioritizes targets, after which the operator selects the desired one and issues the attack command). These operate at close range and are semi-autonomous weapons. However, Russia does not yet have a drone comparable to the US Hornet in range, level of autonomy, or production scale.

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smtm

-1

2 June 2026 11: 59

Hang a dozen of them on Geranka and send them to Lviv and the border with Poland.
Let them hunt....
Spatel

+3

2 June 2026 23: 28

So we're slowly, albeit slowly, coming to the realization that in the modern world, and especially in war, we need not only tanks and guns, camouflaged stormtroopers, and the Solovyovs, Skabeyevs, and Simonyans on TV, but also intelligence, whether natural or artificial. But if the Creator hasn't bestowed natural intelligence upon people who have spent a quarter of a century in public service, artificial intelligence won't appear spontaneously, out of thin air. So the author, gently, unobtrusively, and shyly, states that

However, Russia does not yet have a device comparable to the US Hornet in terms of range, level of autonomy, and production scale.

Till...
When will it happen? Will it happen at all? Where will THIS suddenly come from? From those old Chinese chips they're selling us as if no one needs them anymore? Or will Chemezov report to the boss tomorrow that not only airplanes have been import-substituted, but also ships and scooters, and neural networks in Zhiguli manual transmissions? And the boss will believe it! And how could he not believe such a friend!! He's already spent all the money!!!
Now we've gotten to the meaning...
It turns out that stealing, building palaces and yachts, flying with cranes, kissing pikes on the face, and working with gymnasts in a bunker is much more interesting than running a state!
The country's intellectuals are gone, their brains have flown abroad, leaving only those who are mortally loyal to the Tsar and the United Russia party. And understanding is dawning:

...they left not because they wanted to, but because the environment in which modern development is possible is steadily deteriorating.

Here is the result ...
There's nothing to do it with, and no one to do it with. And this isn't just in neural networks, AI, and microelectronics—it's everywhere! Thank you, Party! Thank you, Tsar! We understand that apartments in Dubai and villas in the Cayman Islands await you, but what are we supposed to do? The eternal Russian question...
1. Alexpan
  
  -2
  
  3 June 2026 10: 45
  
  We can continue to take chips from washing machines, refrigerators, telephones, etc., if we don’t have our own brains to produce them.
Dmitry Volkov

0

Yesterday, 06: 20

I wrote a long time ago that we need a drone weighing up to 100 kg, with a 15 hp engine, a 10 kg warhead, and machine vision. Now I'm thinking the Geranium-2 with a cluster warhead and Petal mines would be better. We missed the boat...
Mines and cassettes can be thrown from our Baba Yaga, but we need to make hybrids, since batteries in such quantities are hard to find.