AI capabilities are needed to counter drone threats, senator says
Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., gavels to order the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch hearing on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said the use of drones has changed modern conflicts and the U.S. needs to respond to this shifting environment by better leveraging artificial intelligence.
With foreign adversaries increasingly relying on stockpiles of unmanned drones to strengthen their military capabilities, one senator argued Monday that the U.S. needs to quickly adopt new artificial intelligence capabilities to counter these growing threats.
Speaking on a panel hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said “we all have a better understanding of how warfare has changed” as a result of drone use in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the two nations have launched hundreds of thousands of drones at one another, while also using the systems to counter some of the attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in January that roughly 80% of the country’s attacks against Russian forces were carried out by drones.
Fischer — who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee — said the use of these drones “highlights for us the need to be able to defend with drones as well.”
With adversaries like China and Russia experimenting with giving drones more autonomy to attack targets without human involvement, the U.S. is similarly looking to advance its AI-infused weapons capabilities. All of this is occurring as Beijing and Washington, in particular, push to outcompete one another in the global AI arms race.
The ongoing U.S.-Israel war against Iran has also been punctuated by frequent drone attacks, with Tehran launching deadly strikes against U.S. forces and neighboring nations.
Greater AI adoption can help to counter these threats, Fischer said.
“When you see a swarm of drones coming in, AI can identify what maybe the pattern is there, and then allow our drones to identify that pattern and how they should respond to it,” she said.
Last year, the Pentagon launched the Defense Autonomous Warfare Group, or DAWG, to quickly develop and deploy autonomous drones. President Donald Trump’s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget, which was released earlier this month, requested $54.6 billion for the unit — a figure that would represent a significant increase to its previous $225 million budget.
Fischer said embracing AI-powered drones to counter other autonomous systems is “going to have to happen very, very quickly, and if we aren't ready for the future, we're in trouble.”