Artificial intelligence in the war: the digital revolution on the battlefield
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Published on: June 24, 2025 / update from: June 24, 2025 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein
Artificial intelligence in the war: The digital revolution on the battlefield - Image: Xpert.digital
Artificial intelligence revolutionizes modern warfare like the shooting powder once
From robotics to deception: the four pillars of the military AI revolution
Modern warfare experiences a fundamental transformation, which is comparable to the invention of the shooting powder or the development of nuclear weapons. Artificial intelligence has developed from a science fiction concept to a real force that already shapes military operations worldwide and revolutionizes the way conflicts are held. This technological revolution manifests itself in four central areas of application: the integration of AI into drone systems, the rise of autonomous robotics, the extended data analysis for strategic planning as well as the use of AI for deception and psychological warfare.
AI in the war: The current headlines clearly show that AI plays an ever greater role in the war. It is about using AI in drones, robotics, analysis and the “deception” of the opponent
The drone revolution: autonomous systems in the sky
From remote -controlled aircraft to the intelligent weapon system
In recent years, drones have developed from simple remote-controlled aircraft to highly developed, AI-controlled weapon systems. Ukraine has demonstrated this transformation particularly impressively by using AI systems to identify and destroy enemy tanks and other war equipment. These systems are continuously trained in order to learn independently and expand their skills, which gives you a decisive advantage over conventional systems.
The hit accuracy of these intelligent systems is impressive: While people controlled by humans achieve a hit rate of only 10 to 20 percent, autonomously controlled drones create a success rate of 80 percent. This dramatic improvement in precision makes AI-controlled drones into a game channel on the modern battlefield.
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German innovations and international developments
Germany delivered combat drones to Ukraine for the first time, which are directed by a newly developed artificial intelligence. These 4000 Kamikaze drones are equipped with a AI developed in Germany, which enables them to autonomously control their goals and to bypass electronic defense measures. The drones can extend 30 to 40 kilometers into the hinterland and battle stalls and logistics nodes attack.
At the same time, other nations work on similar systems. Sweden develops with Saab software for autonomous drone swarms that can coordinate thousands of drones. These swarms can monitor any large areas and automatically reorganize themselves if individual drones fail. Operation is carried out via simple tablets or smartphones, which significantly simplifies complex military operations.
Electronic warfare and countermeasures
The integration of AI into the electronic combat is another dimension of modern warfare. Companies such as Anduril have developed modular AI systems that can coordinate electronic countermeasures, unmanned defense systems and electronic attacks. These systems recognize threats in the entire electromagnetic spectrum and can network with other devices in order to carry out coordinated defense measures in real time.
Robotics and autonomous weapons systems: the future of warfare
Humanoid robots and combat machines
The development of military robotics has accelerated considerably, with both the USA and China making massive investments in this technology. American military planners estimate that the US armed forces could consist of a third of robots in 15 years. These robots include a wide range of systems: drones, underwater vehicles, humanoid robots, robot dogs and other autonomous devices.
China has also made considerable progress and integrates chatt-like AI technology into its robot systems. The Chinese People's Liberation Army uses AI-supported training models for daily flight training and develops systems that could revolutionize decision-making in the struggle.
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Collaborative combat systems
The US Air Force works on collaborative fighter planes that operate side by side with humans controlled by humans. These autonomous systems mainly serve for educational purposes, collect information, direct enemies with false signals and attack enemy goals. At the same time, the US Navy is developing a hybrid fleet of ships and submarines that are supposed to support human sailors.
Letal autonomous weapons systems
Fully autonomous weapons systems, also referred to as “Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems” or colloquially referred to as “killer robots”, represent the next evolution. These systems can independently analyze data, move freely in their area of application and control their weapons such as machine guns, cannons or rockets. They can be operated in the air, on land, water, under water or in space.
The so -called “Loitering Ammunition” or “Standing around ammunition” is already a reality. These systems can circle over an area for hours, sensors record potential destinations and equalize them with preprogrammed parameters. As soon as a goal is identified, you attack independently without human intervention.
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Analytics and data processing: AI as a strategic advantage
The information revolution on the battlefield
Modern warfare generates enormous amounts of data through sensors on the ground, on the water, under water, in air, in space and in cyberspace. This flood of information far exceeds the human processing capacity, which is why AI systems have become indispensable for automatic processing. Artificial intelligence can recognize relationships that are difficult to see for humans and identify enemy activities based on various data sources and warn of attacks.
Military applications of data analysis
The Pentagon has defined four essential areas of application for AI technology in the military: logistics, education, cyber space and warfare. In the first three areas, AI applications are already in use and help to optimize logistics chains, predict necessary maintenance, to find weaknesses in software and bring huge amounts of data together for usable information.
Israel already uses advanced AI systems such as “Knowledge Well” and “Fire Factory” for military operations. The first system delivers overviews of enemy rocket starts in real time, while the second logistical problems solves, calculates ammunition charges and creates action plans. These systems enable significantly faster target selection for air strikes.
The Ooda Loop and AI integration
Ideally, the military use of AI can be explained using the Ooda loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act). In the “Observe” area, KI brings information from drones, radio devices, optronics, helmet cameras and satellite images in order to create a compressed position. In “Orient”, digital guide systems process image data faster and create 3D models of the terrain, buildings or streets. This integration ultimately leads to a higher survival ability for soldiers.
Deception and psychological warfare: AI as a manipulation tool
The new dimension of disinformation
Artificial intelligence has opened a completely new dimension of psychological warfare. Traditional deception that aimed at manipulating human commanders is no longer sufficient. Modern military operations have to deceive both human strategists and the AI systems with which they work.
Russia has already systematically exploited these options and built a well-financed network under the name “Pravda” that infiltrates western AI models. As with classic disinformation campaigns, the goal is not to deceive directly human readers, but to train AI models in such a way that they spread Russian propaganda arrangements unnoticed. Researchers found that leading generative AI models repeated Russian propaganda in 33 percent of cases without marking them as such.
Automated cyber attacks and manipulation
AI-supported cyber attacks have achieved new quality. Cyber criminal use advanced AI techniques to refine attack methods, spread malware independently and to avoid safety protocols. Algorithms of machine learning enable adaptive attack scenarios that present traditional security architectures with new challenges.
The automation of phishing attacks by AI is particularly problematic. Artificial intelligence can create targeted attacks that are tailored to online activities and preferences of the goal, which significantly increases the success rate. AI tools quickly analyze large amounts of data, recognize patterns and generate deceptively real fake login sites that can hardly be distinguished from real ones.
Arms in cyberspace
Cyber security has developed into a fight of machine against machine, in which AI systems are continuously used on both sides of the conflict. Advanced skills such as monitoring the vulnerable IT interface, Darknet monitoring and specialized honeypots offer a critical advantage and help organizations to be one step ahead.
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Ukraine shows world the future of autonomous weapons systems and the AI warfare changes global balance of power permanently
Global shifts of power and strategic implications
Ukraine as a test laboratory for AI warfare
The Russian attack war against Ukraine has developed into a test run for the future of AI-supported warfare. Ukraine benefits significantly from AI-based digital tools and uses software from companies such as Palantir to collect satellite images, information from heat sensors and other important data. This enables the Ukrainian military to track down hidden positions of Russian soldiers.
Experts see this conflict a clear technological advantage for Ukraine. Kyiv uses Ki more effectively than Moscow, especially in the case of geographical education and target recognition. The Ukrainian systems are programmed in such a way that they are constantly learning independently, while Russia mainly uses Iran to use technically relatively simple Kamikaze drones.
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China's military AI ambitions
China announced a comprehensive AI strategy in 2017 and is investing dozens of $ dollars in artificial intelligence, including military use. Chinese defense companies present innovative AI applications that have the potential to revolutionize decision-making in combat. The startup EverReach AI has developed a AI-supported training model that is already used by the People's Liberation Army for daily flight training.
American counter strategy
The United States has reacted with a comprehensive memorandum for national security. The American strategy is based on three main goals: secure the global leadership position in AI development, use AI specifically for national security purposes and create a stable international framework for responsible AI development. The national security advisor Jake Sullivan warned that the United States is risking to gamble away its hard -earned lead if they do not act faster than their rivals.
Ethical challenges and legal problems
The limits of human control
The integration of AI into military systems raises fundamental ethical questions. The greatest dangers of autonomous weapons lie in the lack of human control and ethical responsibility. Autonomous weapons could make decisions about life and death without human intervention, which can lead to serious wrong decisions and unwanted collateral damage.
It is particularly problematic that it is difficult to teach machines moral judgments. The international committee of the Red Cross categorically explains that weapon systems are unlawful in any case without human control. In the future, these systems could grasp a person that calculates the danger from them and then decide on death and life.
Correspondence challenges
There is currently no legal framework that expressly prohibits or regulates the use of autonomous weapons systems. Autonomous weapons, like all other weapon systems, are subject to valid international law, in particular Article 36 of the additional protocol I of the Geneva conventions. These oblige states to check whether the use of new weapons is compatible with humanitarian international law.
Negotiations on the ban on autonomous weapons have been demolished several times. The United States, Russia and other countries that invest in autonomous weapon systems prevent negotiations on a new contract against so -called killer robots. Human Rights Watch and other organizations are calling on the Member States of the UN Convention on the Weapons to begin negotiations on a contract that fixes human control over the application of violence under international law.
Risks of militarization of AI
Studies show disturbing tendencies when using AI for military planning. Researchers at Stanford University had AI models play through real countries and found that the AI preferred a military escalation and tended to unpredictable behavior. In various conflict scenarios, the AI models founded their decisions with statements such as “We have the weapons, so we should use them”.
This development harbors the danger of so -called “Flash Wars” wars that arise from nothing and are triggered by machines. If the military relying too much on AI recommendations, this threatens to weaken human ability to act in diplomatic and military contexts.
Technological developments and future prospects
Machine learning and adaptive systems
The basis of modern military AI systems forms machine learning, in particular the development of artificial neuronal networks. This technology enables systems to learn from experiences and continuously improve their skills. When learning monitoring, algorithms are fed with marked training data, when learning inseciously learned, they are looking for patterns independently, and when learning, they develop optimal strategies through rewards and punishment.
NATO initiatives and international cooperation
With the “Maven Smart System NATO”, NATO acquired a Palantir military system-based military system. The system uses generative AI, machine learning and large voice models to equip commanders with improved skills to assess the situation. This technology is intended to strengthen NATO's ability to react quickly and determined in an increasingly complex security environment.
German Bundeswehr and AI integration
The German Bundeswehr is still struggling with the military AI integration. There are problems already on the basis of digitization, and conceptual approaches have so far only developed individual sub -forces. Nevertheless, already highly automated weapons on AI applications under human leadership in the Bundeswehr are deployed, such as the Patriot and Mantis Aviation Systems.
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The future of warfare
Artificial intelligence has already changed warfare fundamentally and will accelerate this transformation in the coming years. The integration of AI in drones, robotics, analysis and psychological warfare is a revolution that is comparable to the historical turning points of the invention of the shooting powder and the development of nuclear weapons.
The current developments show that a global arms race for AI-based military technology has developed. Countries such as the USA, China, Russia and Israel invest massively in these technologies, while other nations are trying not to lose the connection. Ukraine has impressively demonstrated how AI systems can offer a decisive strategic advantage.
At the same time, the ethical and legal challenges remain unresolved. The international community is still struggling for adequate regulatory approaches, while technological development is progressing unstoppably. The risk that autonomous systems make decisions about life and death without human control becomes increasingly real.
The future of warfare will significantly depend on how successfully the balance between technological progress and human control can be maintained. It is clear that AI is no longer an integral part of the military area - the question is no longer whether it is used, but how responsibly and controlled this assignment takes place.
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