Ukraine’s Defense Forces will receive tens of thousands of AI-powered modules for drones from the American-German company Auterion. According to CEO Lorenz Meier, under a $50 million contract with the U.S. Department of Defense, Ukraine is set to receive 33,000 of these kits by the end of the year.
This was reported by Financial Times. Ukraine first received the Skynode S — a universal computer vision system for drones — as part of Western military aid a little over a year ago, in June 2024.
Read more: Ukraine Receives Skynode S Universal Machine Vision for Drones from American Company Auterion
As Meier notes, while earlier shipments involved thousands of units, the new delivery increases that number nearly tenfold. The Auterion CEO describes the scale as truly "unprecedented."
So, what is Skynode S? In short, it’s a miniature circuit board with passive cooling that can be installed on nearly any drone. Functionally, it serves as an autonomous targeting module — a kind of "seeker head" — which, according to Auterion, enables drones to achieve up to 90% hit probability. The system remains effective even under enemy electronic warfare conditions.
According to Meier, Skynode transforms drones into "AI-based weapon systems" capable of tracking moving targets at distances of up to 1 kilometer.
The report emphasizes that Skynode S kits will be particularly useful in countering the threat of long-range strike drones. With 33,000 kits, even a 70–80% success rate could result in 23,000 to over 26,000 enemy drones being neutralized. At 90% effectiveness, the figure exceeds 29,000 destroyed drones.
Read more: Ukrainian Anti-Aircraft Drone Downs russian Orion UAV, a Carrier of Banderol Missiles and Bombs
