The Swedish defense company Saab has developed technology for integrating a group of drones into a single network for autonomous combat missions.

Swedish Defense Minister Pal Johnson announced this during a conference following a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Johnson shared that the Swedish military will test the drone swarm technology developed over the past year during the upcoming Arctic Strike exercise.

“We will have to take some risks to build a stronger defense capability faster than usual,” he stated. “With the help of these swarms of drones, both reconnaissance and positioning and identification can be carried out.”

According to the Minister, the technology will allow the formation of “swarms” of drones of different sizes, which can be used to solve problems autonomously.

There will be no need to allocate individual pilots to use groups of drones, as the control can be carried out exclusively by one person who will make key decisions.

The Swedish initiative is particularly important since the country joined NATO on March 7, 2024. It seeks to contribute significant technological potential to the alliance’s collective defense structure.

Ukraine at the forefront of drone swarm technology

At the end of October 2024, the Ukrainian Brave1 cluster, together with the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the General Staff, and the National Guard, conducted demonstration tests of autonomous drone control technology.

Seven teams of manufacturers presented their developments. Artificial intelligence-based technology made it possible to combine several dozen drones under the control of one person.

Representatives of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff saw what the Ukrainian manufacturer could do and gave their recommendations for improving the products.

The technology should unite a group of drones into an autonomous network, where the operator will only have to select a target and authorize its destruction. Within the network, each drone will be able to plan its own actions and predict the behavior of others in the swarm.

While UAV operators are trying to carry out operations involving several drones, artificial intelligence will be able to operate dozens.

Militarnyi previously reported on the relevant technology from the Ukrainian company Swarmer, which develops artificial intelligence-based software solutions.