On January 31, the Valdai Club hosted an online discussion titled “Unmanned Weapons and Artificial Intelligence: Is Russia Ready for the Challenges of Modern Tactical Warfare?”
Combat drones have long been an integral part of modern warfare. They have played an important role in most recent military campaigns, including Russia’s operation in Syria. Russia now has over 2,000 UAVs in service, mostly long-range drones.
According to UN estimates, today more than 100 countries throughout the world use drones for military purposes. Some of them use autonomous UAVs that can be pre-programmed to track down a live target and strike without outside control. Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian army to improve and implement unmanned aerial vehicles using artificial intelligence.
What are the most important trends in the development of the global UAV industry and what are the reasons for the success of new players in this market? What is the situation with the production and use of UAVs by the Russian Armed Forces? Is the Russian army ready for conflicts involving the massive use of drones? Will Russia be able to become one of the world leaders in the production of combat drones? Participants of the discussion will answer these and other questions.
Speakers:
- Anton Bespalov, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, valdaiclub.com
- Vasily Kashin, Director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies, Higher School of Economics
- Dmitry Stefanovich, Research Fellow,Center for International Security, Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO RAS)
Moderator:
Working languages: Russian, English.