In the original Terminator film, one of the stars of the movie was the flash-forwards to a future war in which humanity was being wiped out by robots built by Skynet. All of the action of Terminator and the various sequels was built around the question of whether or not humans would be able to stop that future from happening.
Here we are 42 years later and it looks like something like Skynet is almost here. The war between Russia and Ukraine has made it clear to the entire world that drones are the future of warfare, not just for aerial bombardment of industrial and military targets, like this.
Wild video footage shows a strike by a Ukrainian “Hornet” one-way attack drone on a Russian mobile air defense team in Eastern Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/a7tdouiAqt
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) July 20, 2026
But also for taking out individual soldiers trying to advance on the front lines.
Ukrainian FPV drones destroy 20 Russian soldiers on motorcycles and ATVs in the rear area in the Gulaypolske direction. pic.twitter.com/GuaXu3j7pL
— Hydra Fella (Backup Account) (@HydraFella1) July 19, 2026
Ukraine is even now experimenting with ground based drones carrying heavy machine guns. Here they are dropping one from a drone.
Russian channels in an uproar today over new video – filmed from the Russian side – a Ukrainian heavy drone delivering a ground-based kamikaze robot via air to destroy Russian positions.
While Putin is about to mobilize at keast 500,000 for more meat assaults, Ukraine is… pic.twitter.com/qb9dmySNRQ
— Jay in Kyiv (@JayinKyiv) July 19, 2026
And here’s another one being landed behind Russian lines by a sea drone.
🇺🇦 Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out a historic operation: a combat robot was first delivered to a mission by a sea drone, – 123rd Brigade
The robot was landed on the occupied coast of the Kinburn Spit and used to perform a combat mission behind the lines of Russian troops. pic.twitter.com/KLj4IFZf5M
— MAKS 26 🇺🇦👀 (@Maks_NAFO_FELLA) July 13, 2026
Because it’s clear this works and risks fewer soldiers in the process, it’s inevitable that we’re going to adopt it too. And not just with human “drivers” behind the scenes. We’re at a point now where AI can operate many of these drones.
The rapidly improving capabilities of artificial intelligence — coupled with a push by the Trump administration to deploy new technology at the Pentagon — have made the once theoretical debate increasingly urgent. The military has boasted about how it has used AI tools to dramatically increase the pace of its strikes in Iran, and it already employs highly automated systems to defend against missile attacks.
The next step would be drones and robots that are initially activated by a human but that would then be free to pick and attack individual targets.
Naturally, this approach has plenty of opponents.
To many critics, the rapid push represents one of the most dangerous applications of AI. Religious leaders, diplomats and human rights groups — along with many leading roboticists and artificial intelligence researchers — see a far darker future in which war spirals out of control…
The situation has created turmoil in the AI industry, where many researchers are opposed to their technology being employed in conflict. It prompted a wave of protests and a handful of resignations — including that of a top OpenAI robotics expert. Last week, protesters left body bags outside OpenAI’s San Francisco office in a demonstration against its work with the Pentagon.
Nevertheless, the use of drones in warfare is inevitable because the alternative is putting humans at risk. We’re seeing the first trials of this sort of combat now but as is always the case, the best versions will eventually come from American defense companies.
This video from a battle in Ukraine even used the Terminator theme as both air and land drones attack a group of Russian soldiers hiding in a series of houses.
🚨 UKRAINIAN WARRIORS ARE REWRITING THE RULES OF WARFARE AGAIN!
Ground combat robots armed with heavy Browning M2 machine guns + strike drones in perfect sync = pure nightmare fuel for Russian assault groups. They just wiped out an entire enemy assault unit in one of the… pic.twitter.com/SipoaWj4pm
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) July 15, 2026
We’re not there yet but in ten years or so we probably won’t be deploying soldiers anywhere without a bunch of AI powered tools and robots.
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