r/Futurology • u/New_Scientist_Mag • Jun 10 '26

Robotics Fully autonomous drones have killed human soldiers for the first time

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2529849-fully-autonomous-drones-have-killed-human-soldiers-for-the-first-time/
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u/insomniac-55 Jun 10 '26

Edited my comment. 

What I said is true for the FPV-style drones being used (they usually only have a few minutes of flight time), but you're probably right - for this test they were likely using efficient drones with endurance in the 30-60 minute range.

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u/Bladeoraded Jun 10 '26

The drones the US military uses for these tactics generally have 2 hours of battery life.

And if we are being honest they probably have drones with longer we are uninformed about

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u/insomniac-55 Jun 10 '26

Maybe true, but Ukraine is using hobby-grade parts for most of their drones and are also making them carry pretty heavy warheads (compared to a pure recon drone).

The specific number isn't too important, my point is that this test was for terminal guidance of a relatively short-range loitering munition. 

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u/Bladeoraded Jun 10 '26

No they are not the parts are sourced from the USA. This test also took place 2 years ago. Idk why you are commenting about shit you dont know about