How artificial intelligence is helping Ukraine fight the enemy

Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have long been a part of everyday life, and not just in civilian life. It's no secret that military forces are often the first to embrace and implement advanced technologies, ahead of civilian institutions. Moreover, AI algorithms are now playing a decisive role in military operations.

In this article, we will tell you how AI systems are helping Ukraine fight the enemy and defeat it.

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For many years, the ministries of defense of the US, UK, Germany, France, Israel, and other advanced countries have been recruiting talented engineers and developers. They are creating and testing a wide range of AI algorithms, developing them, refining them, and training them to perform increasingly complex military tasks.

For example, in 2021, Israel became the first country in the world to use not just human-controlled drones for military purposes, but an entire squadron of networked UAVs controlled by artificial intelligence.

A few days ago, a palm-sized microdrone was unveiled in Israel for precision operations in urban areas.

The Lanius drone is based on racing drones and uses Nvidia's Jetson TX2 AI engine. This maneuverable aircraft is designed for indoor flight, collecting tactical information, and engaging enemy fighters.

Artificial Intelligence in the Service of the Military

Today, the military uses AI advances for a wide variety of purposes:

• data processing and research;
• threat monitoring;
• making strategic decisions;
• training fighters to carry out missions;
• detection and recognition of objects;
• elimination of targets;
• ensuring cybersecurity;
• assistance to doctors and paramedics;
• and also for solving many other vital tasks.  

They are assisted in this by various combat devices, the functionality of which is ensured by AI systems.

The military has in service:

• unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs);
• quadcopters (drones);
• autonomous weapons systems (so-called “killer robots”);
• automatic turrets (AI turrets);
• “smart rifles” that recognize targets themselves;
• observation thermal imagers;
• AR headsets and much more.

How the Ukrainian Armed Forces Use Artificial Intelligence

On February 24, 2022, the Russian army launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This war, which has now lasted over nine months, has become the largest land conflict in Europe in eight decades.

But the Ukrainian Armed Forces are successfully confronting the enemy and driving them from our soil. And they're doing so with the help of modern technology. What are our valiant soldiers using?

Recognition system from Reface  

Already on the second day of the invasion, February 25, the fintech startup Reface offered to help the military with an AI algorithm for quickly recognizing the location of Russian troops using satellite images.

To collect more data for testing the product, the developers turned to Ukrainians for help: they asked them to send them fresh satellite images or drone shots.

Furthermore, bypassing Kremlin censorship, the company sent 13 million anti-war messages and calls to support sanctions against the aggressor country to Russian users through its app.

It's worth noting that in 2020, a product developed by the Ukrainian startup RefaceAI took first place in the US App Store, ahead of TikTok, Netflix, and Amazon. The app, which uses GAN (Generative Adversarial Network) technology, can transfer a user's face onto GIFs and videos.

Clearview AI Facial Recognition System

The American company Clearview AI has created facial recognition technology and, in March 2022, provided Ukraine with free access to its search engine.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has begun using Clearview AI algorithms to identify Russian military personnel, combat disinformation, identify the dead, and conduct checks at checkpoints.

According to the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Mykhailo Fedorov, this and other facial recognition systems helped identify Russian soldiers who participated in the attack on Ukrainian civilians in the Kyiv region.

Application “TiHto”

In April, Ukrainian IT companies YouControl and Artellence (developers of open data-based services) launched the "TiKhto" app. The system allows for the rapid identification of saboteurs at checkpoints, during curfews, at the entrance to shelters, etc. The use of the "TiKhto" app has been approved by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

In particular, the app's AI algorithms can determine:

• is it real?
• whether this document is valid or is listed as lost;
• whether the person being checked is on the state wanted list/under sanctions of the National Security and Defense Council;
• Is his data in the register of military terrorists and sabotage and reconnaissance groups, as well as in the “Peacemaker” database;
• Is the car on the wanted list?

According to First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Yevhen Yenin, thanks to the work of TiKhto, Ukrainian police successfully identify and detain members of illegal armed groups (IAGs).

Robopes from Boston Dynamics

In June, the US military handed over to its Ukrainian counterparts one of its two robotic dogs, Spot, the brainchild of the renowned American developer Boston Dynamics.

A robotic device, using a manipulator, can drag undetonated mines into special pits for the purpose of neutralizing them (detonating 50-100 shells at once).

The sapper robot can also automatically perform repetitive tasks without human assistance, and work effectively in dense forests and in field conditions among trees.

As is known from open...

Other Ukrainian developments

What Ukrainian military developers are working on is, of course, a military secret. But the more "harmless" developments being worked on by numerous engineers and inventors are publicly known.

Moreover, it is important to disseminate it, at least so that those who want to help in some way know where to direct their efforts.

Sapper robots

As of August 2022, approximately 200 thousand square kilometers of Ukrainian territory required demining.

This prompted the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES of Ukraine) and the Nova Poshta company to launch a joint project to create domestic mine-detection robots that can not only detect mines but also defuse them.

There are plans to produce at least 40 devices for detecting and defusing mines in bodies of water and on land. This development will help speed up mine clearance throughout Ukraine and save the lives of our pyrotechnicians.

Drone

A team of engineers from Dnipro and Kharkiv has created a domestically produced UAV. It is several times cheaper than Western counterparts while maintaining their technical specifications.

According to the project's initiator, Vladimir Yatsenko (one of the founders of Monobank), thanks to the use of modern technology, the drone perfectly evades Russian electronic warfare and air defense systems.

Incidentally, monobank's high-tech "Bank" service helps raise huge sums of money to aid the Ukrainian military in minutes. According to the bank's co-founder, Oleg Gorokhovsky, as of mid-November 2022, Ukrainians had raised 6 billion hryvnias in donations for the Ukrainian Armed Forces exclusively through "Bank."

Artillery reconnaissance and strike complex 

"Krapiva" is the most famous Ukrainian artillery reconnaissance and strike system with software that can be installed on a regular civilian Android tablet.

The creation and testing were carried out by volunteers from the "SOS Army" civil initiative. Work on the "flying laboratory," as the development team led by Yuri Kasyanov calls it, began back in 2015.

By 2022, the development had evolved into a highly powerful software that is now used by most Ukrainian artillerymen to detect targets.

Developers load various programs into the autopilot to optimize flight, practice takeoff and landing, and counter enemy electronic warfare (EW) systems.

The system has a built-in navigator, and the ability to automatically calculate the distance between objects, taking into account the range of a specific gun, current maps of the front line, and other data.

Interactive map of military operations from Deep State UA 

Deep State UA has created a detailed online map containing the history of military operations in Ukraine. It is updated daily.

The interactive map isn't just used by the military. Its data is used by everyone from popular Telegram news channels to ordinary citizens.

In October, Deep State UA announced a collaboration with the creators of the automated neural data processing system Griselda. This team includes experienced programmers, military veterans, and volunteers united around the development of this unique system.

Bilateral cooperation with Deep State UA on situational awareness data exchange enables more accurate and efficient operations for both parties.

Deep State UA provides Griselda with a military version of operational data on the demarcation lines (the most accurate and up-to-date).

The data obtained helps system operators more accurately track suspicious or abandoned enemy equipment in liberated territories and identify information of questionable content.

This consolidated information also enables the military to obtain data on the terrain along with nearby developed (or already de-occupied) territories.

Of course, the appearance of data on the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Deep State UA system is excluded.

Conclusion

Artificial intelligence technologies help save the lives of soldiers and civilians, bringing our Victory closer.

Supporting our defenders is a matter of honor for everyone living and working in the rear. Everyone can donate to help the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the UNITED 24 platform, joining other initiatives from trusted volunteers and opinion leaders.

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