Latest news with #SkySentinel
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine is using an AI-powered, automated turret to shoot down Russia's devastating Shahed drones
Ukraine has deployed an AI-powered turret that can down Shahed drones, a Ukrainian officer told BI. He said one of the guns had been used in combat six times and destroyed six drones as of last week. It appears to be the first confirmation that a Sky Sentinel had so many confirmed kills. Ukraine has deployed an AI-powered turret that has already shot down at least six of Russia's devastating Shahed drones, a military officer told Business Insider. Yuriy, the commander of Ukraine's air defense group, told BI last week that the system, called the Sky Sentinel, has "already been deployed in real combat, demonstrating high effectiveness." He said one prototype shot down six Shaheds in as many operational uses. This appears to be the first confirmation that one of the Sky Sentinels had downed up to six exploding drones. Ukraine previously said that the turret had been successfully tested, including on the front lines. United24, a Ukrainian government initiative that raises funds to purchase weaponry for the military, said last week that a Sky Sentinel prototype was used at the front, where it successfully shot down four Shahed drones. The Sky Sentinel can also take down cruise missiles that are within its effective range, United24 said, but added that many details regarding the system couldn't be revealed due to security concerns. In remarks to BI, Yuriy, who went by only his first name, a standard practice in the Ukrainian military, described the Sky Sentinel as "a cost-effective and scalable solution for defending both cities and frontline regions from Shaheds, reconnaissance drones, and even cruise missiles." Its deployment comes at a critical moment for Ukraine. Russia has been pounding its neighbor with unrelenting drone and missile bombardments. Over the weekend, Moscow launched 472 attack and decoy drones — its biggest air attack with drones to date. The Sky Sentinel system is designed to require almost no human involvement. This could be key for Ukraine as it tries to stop Russia's aerial attacks amid concerns about dwindling stockpiles of Western air defenses. Yuriy said that the weapon is "powered by AI and designed for autonomous operation." He told BI that when a turret is in a combat position and synced up with radar data, "it independently scans the airspace, identifies threats, locks onto aerial targets, calculates their speed and trajectory, and determines the exact firing point." An operator does not manually select targets, he added. "Instead, the system's sensors and software do it autonomously." Sky Sentinel does the "target detection, tracking, and automatic aiming" itself, Yuriy said, but it still needs human authorization before it fires. "This approach reduces the chance of error while still maintaining human oversight." He said the weapon has successfully identified targets: "Its AI can distinguish between birds and drones, and only engages when the threat is clearly identified. It also factors in environmental variables like wind speed." Sky Sentinel can spin 360 degrees and is equipped with a machine gun. United24 said the turret can strike "small, fast-moving targets" that are travelling up to almost 500 miles an hour. Its range is classified. The weapon is also precise enough to hit much smaller targets, per United24, which said that the system successfully hit targets five times smaller than Shaheds in field tests. It is unclear how many have been made to date. United24, which has a crowdfunding campaign for 10 of the turrets, said the system's development team was focused on trying to deliver dozens every month. The Sky Sentinel could be key to protecting Ukraine's cities. Russia can fire hundreds of drones in a single night, and Ukraine has struggled with having enough air defenses since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Its attacks often use Shaheds, Iran-designed drones that Russia fires en masse to try to overwhelm Ukraine's defenses. The attacks leave Ukraine with a major problem: Many of the missiles it has that can potentially stop Russia's attacks cost far more than the Russian drones they target. That's another way the Sky Sentinel could be particularly useful. Each Sky Sentinel unit costs around $150,000. Meanwhile, missiles for the US-made Patriot air defense system, which Ukraine has a few of in its cities, cost around $4 million each, and the Patriot system itself costs about $1.1 billion. Even if the Sky Sentinel is less capable than the Patriot, which can stop faster ballistic missiles, having it shoot down cheaper targets would be a big boost to Ukraine. According to United24, the developers believe that 10 to 30 Sky Sentinels would be needed to protect a city. The cost of even 30 systems would be less than many single air defense missiles, United24 said. And Kyiv needs more systems to protect its cities. It says, for example, that it needs dozens more Patriot systems than it has. United24 added that Sky Sentinel can also be used in dangerous frontline areas, and other variants are being designed for different types of missions. The new system was entirely designed and tested in Ukraine and uses software designed by Ukrainian engineers, per United24. However, it does rely on some foreign-made parts that have no Ukrainian equivalent. United24 did not name its developer, something that is common as Ukraine seeks to protect its weapons makers. It's another example of Ukraine's growing defense industry, which is supplying an increasing part of Ukraine's arsenal, especially amid questions over the future of US security assistance. Ukraine has increasingly been investing in AI-powered and robotic technology, including ground robots. Oleksandr Yabchanka, the head of robotic systems for Ukraine's Da Vinci Wolves Battalion, told BI that Ukraine is also using robots that fire at Russian troops and targets, while allowing its soldiers to stay safe from return fire. Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
02-06-2025
- Business Insider
Ukraine is using an AI-powered, automated turret to shoot down Russia's devastating Shahed drones
Ukraine has deployed an AI-powered turret that has already shot down at least six of Russia's devastating Shahed drones, a military official told Business Insider. Yuriy, the commander of Ukraine's air defense group, told BI last week that the system, called the Sky Sentinel, has "already been deployed in real combat, demonstrating high effectiveness." He said one prototype shot down six Shaheds in as many operational uses. This appears to be the first confirmation that one of the Sky Sentinels had downed up to six exploding drones. Ukraine previously said that the turret had been successfully tested, including on the front lines. United24, a Ukrainian government initiative that raises funds to purchase weaponry for the military, said last week that a Sky Sentinel prototype was used at the front, where it successfully shot down four Shahed drones. The Sky Sentinel can also take down cruise missiles that are within its effective range, United24 said, but added that many details regarding the system couldn't be revealed due to security concerns. In remarks to BI, Yuriy, who went by only his first name, a standard practice in the Ukrainian military, described the Sky Sentinel as "a cost-effective and scalable solution for defending both cities and frontline regions from Shaheds, reconnaissance drones, and even cruise missiles." Its deployment comes at a critical moment for Ukraine. Russia has been pounding its neighbor with unrelenting drone and missile bombardments. Over the weekend, Moscow launched 472 attack and decoy drones — its biggest air attack with drones to date. Little human involvement The Sky Sentinel system is designed to require almost no human involvement. This could be key for Ukraine as it tries to stop Russia's aerial attacks amid concerns about dwindling stockpiles of Western air defenses. Yuriy said that the weapon is "powered by AI and designed for autonomous operation." He told BI that when a turret is in a combat position and synced up with radar data, "it independently scans the airspace, identifies threats, locks onto aerial targets, calculates their speed and trajectory, and determines the exact firing point." An operator does not manually select targets, he added. "Instead, the system's sensors and software do it autonomously." Sky Sentinel does the "target detection, tracking, and automatic aiming" itself, Yuriy said, but it still needs human authorization before it fires. "This approach reduces the chance of error while still maintaining human oversight." He said the weapon has successfully identified targets: "Its AI can distinguish between birds and drones, and only engages when the threat is clearly identified. It also factors in environmental variables like wind speed." Sky Sentinel can spin 360 degrees and is equipped with a machine gun. United24 said the turret can strike "small, fast-moving targets" that are travelling up to almost 500 miles an hour. Its range is classified. The weapon is also precise enough to hit much smaller targets, per United24, which said that the system successfully hit targets five times smaller than Shaheds in field tests. It is unclear how many have been made to date. United24, which has a crowdfunding campaign for 10 of the turrets, said the system's development team was focused on trying to deliver dozens every month. Needed by Ukraine The Sky Sentinel could be key to protecting Ukraine's cities. Russia can fire hundreds of drones in a single night, and Ukraine has struggled with having enough air defenses since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Its attacks often use Shaheds, Iran-designed drones that Russia fires en masse to try to overwhelm Ukraine's defenses. The attacks leave Ukraine with a major problem: Many of the missiles it has that can potentially stop Russia's attacks cost far more than the Russian drones they target. That's another way the Sky Sentinel could be particularly useful. Each Sky Sentinel unit costs around $150,000. Meanwhile, missiles for the US-made Patriot air defense system, which Ukraine has a few of in its cities, cost around $4 million each, and the Patriot system itself costs about $1.1 billion. Even if the Sky Sentinel is less capable than the Patriot, which can stop faster ballistic missiles, having it shoot down cheaper targets would be a big boost to Ukraine. According to United24, the developers believe that 10 to 30 Sky Sentinels would be needed to protect a city. The cost of even 30 systems would be less than many single air defense missiles, United24 said. And Kyiv needs more systems to protect its cities. It says, for example, that it needs dozens more Patriot systems than it has. United24 added that Sky Sentinel can also be used in dangerous frontline areas, and other variants are being designed for different types of missions. Ukrainian designed The new system was entirely designed and tested in Ukraine and uses software designed by Ukrainian engineers, per United24. However, it does rely on some foreign-made parts that have no Ukrainian equivalent. United24 did not name its developer, something that is common as Ukraine seeks to protect its weapons makers. It's another example of Ukraine's growing defense industry, which is supplying an increasing part of Ukraine's arsenal, especially amid questions over the future of US security assistance. Ukraine has increasingly been investing in AI-powered and robotic technology, including ground robots. Oleksandr Yabchanka, the head of robotic systems for Ukraine's Da Vinci Wolves Battalion, told BI that Ukraine is also using robots that fire at Russian troops and targets, while allowing its soldiers to stay safe from return fire.
Daily Mirror
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Close to a million Russian troops dead or injured in Vladimir Putin's war
Russian losses in Putin's war on Ukraine are staggering - but the Kremlin is preparing a fresh offensive even whilst talks are ongoing to achieve a peace settlement Russia has lost close to a million troops to death or injury in the war in Ukraine, latest intelligence estimates declare. The number of troops put out of battle in ferocious clashes stands at 986,080 - with a staggering 1,140 killed or injured and taken from the frontline in just 24 hours. In addition, intelligence analysis suggests, Moscow has lost 10,865 tanks and almost 40,000 drones to Ukraine's defence of the invasion. Ukraine has destroyed 1,172 anti-aircraft systems, 372 warplanes, 336 helicopters, 28 warships and boats and even a submarine. The staggering claims of Russian losses have led to Moscow having to recruit as many as 14,000 North Korean soldiers who have also suffered losses. It is believed at least 1,000 of Kim Jong-Un's troops are believed to have died in battles in Russia 's effort to drive Ukraine invading troops out of Kursk. It comes as Russia is believed to be building up a huge force of 50,000 assault troops in readiness for a new Summer offensive near Sumy, in Ukraine's north east. Kyiv has confirmed Moscow forces have managed to capture four villages close to the region's border with Russia. It is believed the Kremlin has ordered a buffer of several miles in the region. But the Sumy regional governor stated that the residents of these settlements had been evacuated long ago, and "there is no threat to civilians." The attack on Sumy was originally planned for last year but was interrupted by Ukraine's mini-invasion into Russia's Kursk region. Ukraine is also believed to have suffered significant losses although there are no official figures available. Recently, the Ukrainian military also warned that Russia may be preparing new attacks on Kharkiv as Moscow gathered its troops close to the border with the region. Fighting has intensified along all of Ukraine's frontlines, stretching for over 800 miles and across multiple regions of the country. This week Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky s aid Russia mobilises around 40,000 to 45,000 men for its military every month, while Ukraine mobilises about 25,000 to 27,000. He said it is yet another indicator of Moscow intensifying its war efforts despite numerous calls from Kyiv, Brussels and Washington to agree to an unconditional ceasefire. Zelensky added: "When the US sends signals that it wants to do something positive with Russia, then Russia ramps up its mobilisation.' It comes as Ukraine's weapons developers are pushing forward with making futuristic defences using artificial intelligence. One breakthrough has been the 'robot tank' officially dubbed the Sky Sentinel which is a high-power .50-caliber M2 Browning machine gun which shoots down missiles and drones. Fitted onto a turret the device is placed near the frontline and independently of humans once it is programmed, it detects, tracks, calculates the trajectory of incoming weapons and fires. It can engage moderately fast, low-flying targets moving at speeds of up to 500mph – enough to intercept Russia's 'Kamikaze' Shahed drones, which operate at less than 120mph.
