Jeffrey C. Dodson, Cyber Activities Group Partner (retired US Air Force Colonel) described the landslide changes in military sector made possible through advanced technologies - primarily UAVs/drones and artificial intelligence (AI). According to him, it is the tactical level of innovation that forms a new military doctrine today.

He emphasized this idea this at the 17th Annual Kyiv Security Forum “UA: UNITE AGAIN TO DEFEAT THE GLOBAL AGGRESSOR”, organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Foundation “Open Ukraine”.

“Drones do not simply mean the instrumental change, they change the very logic of war. We see one drone remote pilot (RP) today controlling six drones simultaneously - and with extraordinary accuracy,” he noted.

According to Jeffrey C.Dodson, true innovations emerge at tactical levels “on the battlefield” rather than are born through brainstorm efforts in HQ strategic situations planning rooms. From battlefields, technological breakthroughs move up to operational and strategic planning often surpassing it. 

The expert paid special attention to the AI role in modern warfare. The key, in his opinion, is the combination of UAVs autonomy and quantities. Only recently there was one drone RP per one UAV, whereas now there are coordinated swarms of dozens of drones, assisted by AI algorithms.

“Artificial intelligence (AI) changes approaches to target detection, accelerates drone RPs training, and assists RPs compensating for lack of their training. This is no longer a theory, this is the reality of the Ukrainian battlefield,” Jeffrey C. Dodson emphasized.

The Kyiv Security Forum, organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk’s Open Ukraine Foundation, is the main platform in Ukraine to discuss issues of war and peace, national and global security.