Sweden rushes to make swarm drones, a technology that we do not even see in Ukraine

A member of NATO has precipitated the production of swarm drones – a technology that we do not even see in Ukraine – as part of an effort to learn from the invasion of Russia and prepare his own defenses.

The Swedish Minister of Defense, Pål Jonson, told Business Insider that his country had identified the capacity while looking at the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, where drones were used more than in any other conflict in history.

Jonson said that it was “a project that we developed very quickly, in less than a year”, where traditionally, “could have taken five years”.

He said that he would be tested in an exercise led by NATO, and that a soldier could control independently up to 100 drones.

Grouping drones

Swarm drones allow operators or artificial intelligence systems to operate a multitude of drones, either to monitor or attack.

Although drone groups can be preprogrammed to operate collectively, swarm drones are different and can be much more powerful: they are interconnected and can use AI to react in real time to move targets or incoming enemy defenses.

In January, Sweden unveiled a new SWARM drone technology developed by its Armed Forces and its Swedish company SAAB.

Saab told Defense News that each drone had a different capacity, such as having sensors, payload or communication technology.

Swarm drones “work like one,” said Bi James Patton Rogers, a drone expert at Cornell Brooks Tech Policy Institute.

This, he said, opens “a whole world of tactics and strategies that we have not even thought of yet”.

Watch war

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has raised concerns across Europe that Russia could attack elsewhere on the continent, which aroused defense expenses and reflections on what the military must do to be more ready.

Western soldiers have taken a host of war lessons, drones being key.

Russia and Ukraine have relied heavily on drone technology and tactics, Ukraine producing naval drones that have damaged Russian warships, drones that use AI and drones that are not based on GPS, in order to bypass Russian jamming.

But swarm drones have not been seen – at least not yet.

Zachary Kallenborn, an expert in the drone war at King’s College in London, told BI that he was not aware of any drone really collaborating together.

It should therefore be noted that Sweden has identified this as a key point.

Jonson said fat drones came from an examination of the Sweden Defense Commission, which was responsible for finding war lessons that Sweden should adopt.

“It was something that we identified from the ministry in close dialogue with the armed forces: that we had to invest in the capacity of drones,” he said.

A rush to creation

Jonson said that the development of Sweden’s swarm’s swarm had taken place so quickly because it was done “in a slightly unconventional” manner, with a closer collaboration than usual between the Swedish armed forces, the Swedish defense supply agency and the Swedish research agency.

Related stories

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know

It is not clear when drones could be ready to be deployed.

Rogers said it would be “unprecedented” to fully develop capacity in about a year.

“I am wary of all the claims that anyone who is able to deploy a real swarm of drones tested within 18 months of standing a project,” he said. “But it is certainly a gap in the European arsenal and the NATO arsenal.”

Mauro Gilli, principal researcher in military technology at Eth Zurich, added that “even if they do it in two years, it will be really, really remarkable”.

Do things on the battlefield

Swarm drones are a technology on which other NATO members work.

Kallenborn, the King’s College London drone expert, said the challenge for swarm drone manufacturers is to “do things on the battlefield”, where technology operates in a complex space “can be a challenge”.

Many war experts say that drone technology moves so quickly that the West should not pump tons of drones too quickly, because they could soon be exceeded.

Instead, said Kallenborn, Western countries should focus on learning the capacity they need and their ability to make them on a large scale, “but it seems quite premature.”

Although swarm drones were not seen in Ukraine, Gilli told Bi that the success of regular drones in military situations probably justified investment.

He said that drones authorized Ukraine – with much less labor than Russia and with notable artillery shortages – to slow down the attack on Russia.

According to Rogers, Ukraine has probably not yet aligned swarm drones, because it is faster and cheaper to focus on the increase and innovation of existing drones, rather than on completely new technology.

But they could be in the future of Ukraine.

Mykhailo Fedorov, head of the Ukrainian Department of Digital Affairs, said in February that Ukraine pushed to create swarms of artificial intelligence.

Play your strength

The need to make weapons quickly was a key lesson in Ukraine, and many Western leaders and experts warned that the West did them too slowly.

Jonson said war shows that the West must work on “strengthening our industrial defense production”.

He called this an area where Sweden likes to think “we hit our weight because we have a very strong and important industrial defense base”.

Samuel Bendett, an expert in drone technology and Russian defense at the Center for Naval Analysis, told Bi that fatty drones are advantageous for soldiers with smaller populations, or who invest a lot in the formation of each soldier – something that Western soldiers generally do more than Russia.

They would let the military align “several types of robotic systems instead of a single soldier,” he said.

Meanwhile, Jonson advised all the Swedish allies who do not have drone programs – or do not invest in drones – to do so, because “it is an aspect of contemporary war that has become very clear, has a very important role in the battlefield in Ukraine”.