Shahed drones and AI: What Russia’s weapons can and can’t do

According to Defense Express, there have been new reports suggesting that Russia has begun equipping its long-range Shahed drones with AI capabilities — part of what some are calling a major technological leap. While Russian sources have circulated rumors about supposedly “uninterceptable” drones, it was The Economist that introduced the AI angle, citing unnamed sources in a Ukrainian research lab analyzing drone debris.

According to that report, newer Shahed models are allegedly less vulnerable to Ukrainian electronic warfare because they no longer rely on GPS navigation. Instead, they supposedly use artificial intelligence and Ukrainian mobile networks to guide their flight. The article even claims that a note found inside one drone described how it uses Telegram to transmit flight data and live video back to an operator in Russia.

But this version of events doesn’t entirely add up. Combining AI, a 4G modem, a Telegram bot, and a live operator doesn’t paint a coherent or technically plausible picture. It appears that some complex technical details were simplified — and likely distorted — in translation to the public narrative.

In reality, Russia has been equipping Shahed drones with 4G modems since at least November 2023. And by March 2024, it was already known that some Shaheds carried cameras for transmitting video footage. None of this, however, equates to artificial intelligence.

True autonomous drones with AI are a different category — such as the Lancet loitering munition, which can operate independently and strike targets up to 100 km away. That’s not what the Shahed is built for; it's a long-range “deep strike” drone, not a loitering munition.

According to Defense Express sources, there is no confirmed evidence that any Russian Shahed-136 drone has been equipped with AI components. That said, it’s entirely possible Russia is moving in that direction. Military technology expert Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov echoed that conclusion, stating clearly that Shaheds do not use Telegram for control and are not powered by artificial intelligence.

Instead, they continue to rely on satellite navigation — and Russia is persistently working to harden that system against Ukrainian jamming. This ongoing technological back-and-forth is a key part of the electronic warfare battle between the two sides.

As for the reports about 4G modems and Telegram, the more likely explanation is that Russia is using these tools to send flight data and coordinates post-mission. That helps them assess which drones were intercepted and which made it through — essentially analyzing the effectiveness of Ukraine’s air defenses.

And the alleged "note from a Russian engineer" inside a drone? That detail appears to be fiction. There’s no evidence such a message ever existed, Defense Express concludes.