Russia’s S-350 Missile System using AI to Target Ukrainian Aircraft

Russia’s S-350 Vityaz surface-to-air missile (SAM) system is shooting down Ukrainian warplanes and drones in fully automatic mode, without the participation of an operator.

A “well-informed” source told Sputnik last week that the S-350 “performed fully automated detection, tracking and destruction of Ukrainian air targets in combat” for the first time.

According to the insider, "the automatic mode was implemented on the basis of the principle that a person does not cancel the decisions of the SAM’s artificial intelligence elements within the framework of the emerging air combat situation, namely, an operator just did not interfere in the running of the system, thus confirming the operation algorithm chosen by the machine.”

The sources explained that the Vityaz simultaneously worked in active and passive radar modes, something that boosts the SAM’s jamming immunity, as well as its ability to detect and classify targets.

The S-350 has a maximum range up to 120 km (around 75 miles) and it can engage up to 16 targets at an altitude of 30 km (around 18.5 miles).