KYIV (Realist English). The head of the artificial intelligence center at Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, Danylo Tsvok, has declared the arrival of a “new paradigm” of warfare that will fundamentally change the nature of combat in the coming years.
In an interview with Reuters, Tsvok predicted that the conflict between Ukraine and Russia will, within three to five years, evolve into a “war of operating systems” — a confrontation of integrated AI networks that collect and analyze data from the entire front line.
According to the Ukrainian military official, the advantage will go to the side whose system can process more information and propose solutions faster.
New Era: “War of Operating Systems”
Tsvok said that AI is already being actively used by Ukraine to guide drones, plan combat operations, and analyze data on Russian missile strikes. However, in the future, if the conflict continues, disparate systems will be integrated into a single battlefield monitoring and control network.
“I think we are on the threshold of a new paradigm of warfare – what I call a war of operating systems,” said the head of the Defence AI Center “A1”.
The key goal is to integrate weapons, sensors and data transmission networks into a “single living organism capable of acting in a coordinated manner.” This would allow the collection and analysis of information from 1,200 kilometers of front line and provide recommendations to commanders at all levels – from tactical to strategic.
“The system that has more data, understands it better, and proposes solutions will have an advantage over the other,” Tsvok stressed.
Accelerating the “Kill Chain”
Drones, thousands of which are launched daily by both sides, have already changed the nature of war. Their ability to constantly observe the battlefield and strike targets with high precision has accelerated the so-called “kill chain” – the process of planning and executing strikes. The use of AI, according to Tsvok, will accelerate this cycle even further.
The Defence AI Center “A1” was established in March 2026 by Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who seeks to put AI and data‑driven management at the core of Kyiv’s defense strategy. Ukraine, whose army numbers about one million servicemen, is already introducing AI tools into its command systems.
Technology Race and Western Companies
The war in Ukraine, the largest in Europe since World War II, has become a catalyst for a global technology race. Foreign companies seeking to obtain combat data to train their models and test their systems are actively showing interest in cooperation.
The American company Palantir has already provided its technologies to Ukraine, and Kyiv has launched the Brave1 Dataroom project to share combat data with allies to train their software.
“This is a place where you can understand whether your system works,” noted Tsvok, dressed in a black T‑shirt and jeans.
At the same time, Russia is also developing its own AI capabilities. A senior Ukrainian air defense commander told Reuters in April that he is concerned about Russia’s growing use of artificial intelligence to plan drone and missile attacks on cities, which could significantly reduce the preparation time for each strike.
Human in the Loop and the Ethical Question
“The question is how quickly we generate our decisions and how practically we implement them to achieve the main effect on the battlefield on our side,” the Ukrainian official concluded.
For now, Ukraine adheres to the principle of “human in the loop,” where the final decision on combat application remains with a human. However, Tsvok acknowledged that AI systems could eventually outpace humans, whose presence would only slow down decision‑making.
“Then the question arises: how can we keep up with the decisions proposed by autonomous systems?” he said.
