Ukraine rolls out target-seeking terminator drones, new surprises await the Russians

A video from Ukrainian drone fundraiser Serhii Sternenko released demonstrates new technology: an attack drone which locks on with machine vision and does not require a human pilot, according to Forbes. The first Terminator movie dropped forty years ago. Now the technology for autonomous killing is going mainstream, with all that implies.
In the video an FPV attack drone with automatic target recognition homes in on a Russian tank from long distance. Even after the video link is lost, the drone successfully completes the attack.
A reconnaissance drone watches the FPV hit. Ten seconds after the impact, a more violent secondary explosion shakes the tank from inside and it burns fiercely.
It is not the first time this type of technology has been used. But Sternenko is collecting funds to build a thousand of the drones, indicating moving beyond prototyping to mass production.
The main protection against FPV drones is radio-frequency jamming, which can shut down the video link between the drone and the operator, prevent the drone from receiving control signals, or confuse its navigation. There is a continuing arms race as developers build more advanced jammers and drone makers upgrade their communications to beat the jamming.
A drone which uses machine vision to track its target automatically and does not rely on operator signals is immune to jamming.
“They neutralize the work of the enemy’s Electronic Warfare in most cases and allow you to hit the enemy even more effectively,” states Sternenko.
In addition to being jammed, FPV drones typically lose communication in the last few hundred feet of the attack as they drop below the radio communication horizon. Skilled operators are able to allow for this and ensure that the drone is on target, so its momentum will carry it through. Automatic guidance removes this problem.