Russia uses AI-powered drones in Sumy direction — HUR on new Russian V2U UAV

The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense (HUR) published information about the new drone on the War&Sanctions portal.

They noted that the drone’s key feature is its ability to independently search for and choose targets using artificial intelligence. The onboard system runs on the Chinese-made Leetop A203 minicomputer as its main processor, using a high-speed setup based on the NVIDIA Jetson Orin.

The V2U has only one GPS module, which likely means Russia is avoiding satellite navigation because of Ukrainian electronic warfare.

The drone also appears to use "computer vision" for navigation — it compares camera footage to pre-loaded images of the terrain.

Control is also possible in FPV mode over LTE. The drone is fitted with a Microdrive Tandem-4GS-OEM-11 modem-router that works with a SIM card from a Ukrainian mobile operator. Despite Russian labeling, the modem's components are Chinese.

HUR found that the drone is mostly assembled from Chinese parts — including the engine, GPS unit, servos, solid-state drive, rangefinder, speed controllers, and power supplies. It also contains a Sony photosensitive sensor from Japan, an electromagnetic relay from Ireland’s TE Connectivity, and the previously mentioned Jetson Orin module from the U.S.

• Recently, technical data on Russia’s new S8000 Banderol cruise missile also revealed foreign components from China, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and several other countries.