Illustrative image. (screen grab/ Russian Federal Security Service/TASS)
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on July 10 that its officers had seized 13 artificial intelligence-powered first-person view (FPV) suicide quadcopters smuggled into the country by Ukrainian military intelligence service (HUR) for an attack on an air base.
In a statement, the security service said that the planned target was an air base in the Rostov Region, where the Ukrainian intelligence sought to damage assets and kill personnel.
Each drone was designed to carry an improvised explosive device with a yield equivalent to more than 1 kg of TNT and was equipped with an AI-based targeting system along with a distinctive color mark intended to overcome electronic countermeasures, according to the FSB.
The plot fell apart when the man recruited to carry out the attack alerted Russian law enforcement and cooperated with the investigation.
With help from the man, the FSB deceived the HUR into delivering the drones and transferring an advance payment equal to 20 percent of the promised fee. The security service noted that the man’s voluntary assistance exempts him from criminal liability
Forensic analysis of the drones revealed that their AI model was trained at Ukraine’s State Aviation Museum at Zhuliany Airport in Kyiv, the FSB said.
In general, the plot appears to be nearly identical to the Ukrainian attack on Russian strategic aviation bases last year. At the time FPV suicide quadcopters, reportedly powered by AI, were also used. The models were even trained in the same place, the State Aviation Museum at Zhuliany Airport.
The failed plot in Rostov was the latest in a series of Ukrainian attacks in Russia that law enforcement managed to stop recently.
Just a day earlier, the FSB reported derailing two separate assassination attempts on senior military officials, one of which would have involved a specialized FPV quadcopter carrying a bomb. And earlier in the week, the security service prevented a large-scale dispatch of explosive devices disguised as fragrance sets to service members and defense industry personnel.
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