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Killing machines: how Russia and Ukraine’s race to perfect deadly pilotless drones could harm us all

Cheap, scalable and highly autonomous, these weapons are developing quickly – and experts say they should prompt a global rethink about security

Anton Skrypnyk, Roboneers “There is no technology that survives longer than three months as an effective measure against something,” says Viktor Sakharchuk, co-founder at Twist Robotics, which claims to be the producer of the first drones with autonomous terminal guidance systems used by Ukraine’s armed forces. Photograph: Julia Kochetova/The GuardianFibre optic drones, which are connected to their pilots by a wire, are the technology of the moment because they are impervious to jamming, says Olexii, chief of future battle plans in the Khartia, a combat brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine fighting on the north-eastern front in the Kharkiv region. Perhaps it is the dark skies above him and the torrential rain hammering on the car windscreen, but as Oleg Fedoryshyn watches his latest unmanned land vehicle, equipped with machine gun turret, being given a run out on a muddy field in west Ukraine, the head of research and design at DevDroid is in a reflective mood.

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