A fully autonomous Russian drone killed three Ukrainians on July 6, the New York Times revealed on August 24, citing Ukrainian military sources. This is the beginning of autonomous warfare, which will drastically change the battlefield. In this coming war, data will play an even greater role than military budgets and arms stockpiles.

The deadly Russian drone didn’t look any different from counterparts used in Russia’s war on Ukraine. However, it didn’t rely on communication with operators; instead, it used an experimental artificial intelligence system powered by a commercially available Nvidia Jetson Orin computer module.

It was programmed to fly to the city of Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine; from there, it autonomously identified its target and took aim. It missed its target, crashing into a nearby building and killing three in the explosion.

The New York Times wrote:

It is a development long watched for in the war in Ukraine, presaging a dystopian future in which killer robots roam the skies making life-or-death decisions that reduce targets to data points.

“This is a risk for the whole world,” said Col. Serhiy Minaiev, the commander of air defenses in Zaporizhzhia. “In a few years, we will be living in a Terminator movie. It’s no joke. Machines are making decisions to strike.”

While Western countries debate its morality, fully autonomous AI-guided drones are already in use. Former German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg explained in his podcast Land in Sicht on September 1:

AI is indeed taking over decisions that humans used to make. Now there are those who say that an AI fed on millions of data points will be less prone to error than humans and less driven by emotion than humans. Now one could counter that by saying, exactly—that emotionality, if used wisely, is something that might also help prevent disasters. I tend to lean toward the latter view, yet I still believe this trend is unstoppable.

This new form of warfare comes at little cost and offers power “that used to be reserved only for the so-called major powers,” Guttenberg added.

This new reality can shift the global power balance because data is “the absolutely most important resource in this form of warfare,” he said. “Whoever gains access to this data—whether they are reasonable or unreasonable actors—will hold a corresponding position of power in the future.”

“One of the greatest data treasures in modern warfare right now is in Ukraine,” Guttenberg explained. “It’s not in the [United States], it’s not in Europe; some of it is in China, but there, in real time—second by second, hour by hour, day by day—this data will be generated as the war unfolds. Ukraine currently holds this data.”

The war in Ukraine has reinvented warfare and overthrown the current balance of power.

But what nation will benefit most from Ukraine’s treasure trove of data?

Germany has risen to become Ukraine’s largest weapons supplier. The delivered weapons haven’t helped Ukraine win the war, however; instead, they have only prolonged it. What Germany gains in return is far more valuable than any weapon it has supplied Ukraine.

In April, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry and Germany signed a memorandum on defense data exchange. Germany offers data on its weapons systems, and Ukraine shares its combat data and operational expertise.

In 2022, various German military start-ups signed defense agreements with the Ukrainian military to develop drones jointly. One of these companies is AI drone manufacturer Helsing, currently Europe’s most valuable defense start-up.

Modern Warfare Prophesied

Advances in AI-powered drone swarms and cyberattacks “could lead to the sudden overthrow of major superpowers,” Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry warned in “Germany Is Arming for World War III.” He added:

Couple that with nuclear warfare, and you have an absolute horror scenario!

Germany’s expertise in these new technologies is bringing potentially revolutionary change to the battlefield! This is a monumental shift in warfare! But it’s not going to bring peace. It’s going to bring war.

Our world is about to be shocked by the military power emanating from Germany.

In Matthew 24:22, Jesus Christ prophesied of an end-time war so destructive that God Himself will have to intervene to stop it. In verse 15, Christ referred back to the book of Daniel, which reveals the specifics of these end-time events.

Daniel 8:23 reads: “And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.”

Verse 25 shows that Christ Himself will have to stop this leader. This means that whomever this leader is, he will control the most advanced weaponry ever produced by man. Specifically, this man will understand “dark sentences.” As Mr. Flurry explained in “Germany Is Arming for World War III,” this refers to artificial intelligence.

The new form of warfare currently being developed in Ukraine will empower this leader’s attempt to conquer the world. Events are speeding toward the fulfillment of that prophecy.