Autonomous NATO strike drone uses Nvidia Jetson Orin Nano to independently pick and bomb targets — Swedish startup's attack drones run small AI model, require no human input and zero external comms
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Drones built with small, non-frontier computer-vision models autonomously identified and attacked targets in a recent demo, Ars Technica reports. Scaleout Systems, a Swedish AI startup, used a low-cost loitering munition from BAE Systems Bofors to strike a target as part of the Affordable Loitering Modular Ammunition (ALMA) program.
BAE’s Winter Demo 2026 had the drone detecting and geolocating targets before ranking an armored engineering vehicle highest, autonomously flying to it, and dropping an explosive.Scaleout’s demo video, “Technical Demo: Onboard Edge Intelligence for Autonomous UAV Missions,” shows the company’s drone spotting potential threats with AI, with all processing handled onboard. Beyond a button press to start the system, manual input is optional; the designated pilot remained a failsafe controller.
The mission flew under human-set parameters to engage an armored engineering vehicle and required about 200 seconds of recon, with the full mission completed in under 320 seconds. The mission completed without needing communication, supporting Scaleout’s claim of resilience against electronic warfare.Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.