Pentagon warns China and Russia lead US in autonomous weapons development

The US Department of War has determined that Russian and Chinese development activities in the fields of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and autonomous systems have surpassed current US technical efforts.

According to a report by The New York Times, which cited three separate sources from defense and intelligence agencies, the Washington administration is restructuring its defense industry strategies to close this technological gap.

It was noted that the Pentagon finalized its assessments of China’s capabilities by analyzing a military parade held in China in September 2025. Following these analyses, US authorities issued a call to domestic defense companies to accelerate their production processes.

Within this framework, the technology startup Anduril began the production of AI-supported and autonomously managed UAVs in February 2026, three months ahead of the projected schedule. The New York Times pointed out that these vehicles were produced as a direct response to similar autonomous systems displayed during the parade in China.

The globally deepening autonomous arms race has also been reflected in the Pentagon’s financial planning. The US administration has requested over $13 billion in additional federal funding for the development of autonomous systems and their integration into defense networks.

The newspaper characterized this move as part of an escalating global competition in the field of AI-supported defense systems and autonomous weapons. The report emphasized that while the US and China sit at the center of this technological struggle, the race has expanded to include other actors.

It was stated that Russia, Ukraine, India, Israel, and Iran are investing heavily in military AI projects, while France, Germany, and Poland are increasing their existing ammunition capacities. The authors noted that in the current landscape, it remains difficult to determine which country holds absolute leadership.

The report stated that nations are attempting to accumulate the most advanced technological arsenal possible in preparation for “drone versus drone” and “algorithm versus algorithm” scenarios.

The newspaper likened this process to the beginning of the nuclear age in the 1940s. However, the analysis pointed out that while the consequences of the atomic bomb were clearly known, the military capacity of artificial intelligence is only just beginning to be fully realized by the world.

On the Russian side, the integration of AI systems into defense doctrine is being addressed at the highest level. On April 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government and regional administrations to create a national plan for the implementation of AI across the country.

Putin emphasized that AI is transforming the entire Russian way of life, including defense, and stressed that developing domestic solutions is a necessity for national security and defense.

The Russian Federation moved its institutional structure regarding UAV systems to a new stage by establishing “unmanned systems troops” in the autumn of 2025. Following Putin’s call for these units to be deployed “as quickly and with as high quality as possible,” it was reported that the Russian army added a total of more than 1.5 million UAVs of various types to its inventory during 2024.