In December 2024, Ukraine's 13th National Guard brigade launched what was reported to be the first offensive operation conducted entirely with unmanned systems. The assault near Kharkiv targeted Russian defensive positions without deploying a single soldier on the ground - and achieved its objectives without losing a single autonomous system to Russian jamming.

David Petraeus and Isaac Flanagan detail the operation in a Foreign Affairs essay on the autonomous warfare transition, "Hvylya" reports.

Instead of infantry, the brigade sent remotely controlled ground vehicles forward to lay and clear mines and fire on Russian defenses. Surveillance, bomber, and suicide drones provided battlefield awareness and air support. "Not a single soldier was exposed during the initial assault," the authors note, "and careful planning and disciplined communications meant that not a single autonomous system was lost to Russian jamming, either." The attack destroyed Russian positions and ultimately enabled Ukrainian infantry to advance and seize ground they still hold.

Petraeus and Flanagan call the coordination "impressive" but stress its limitations. The operation was still controlled by humans. Pilots in separate locations watched shared video feeds and sequenced their actions manually. The systems did not communicate with each other. What comes next, the authors argue, is far more transformative: "autonomy from launch" - systems that execute independently from the start of a mission, adapting their actions within commander-set constraints and coordinating with other elements in a formation even when disconnected from human control.

The 13th brigade's operation, in other words, was a proof of concept for a future that has not yet arrived. Individual drones with AI-assisted targeting "number in the thousands among millions of remotely controlled systems," the authors write. Over time, these machines will be massed into formations - air, ground, and maritime units that maneuver and strike independently, executing the commander's intent even when no communication link exists. The question of how much firepower can be deployed with minimal oversight is already shaping debates about the legal architecture of autonomous strikes.

Also read: Unexpected Move: Ukraine Offers the US Specialized Help Against Iran.