Russian President Vladimir Putin stated on Thursday that Russia supplied 140,000 UAVs to the military in 2023 and plans to increase that number tenfold in the future.

"In total, about 140,000 unmanned vehicles of various types were delivered to the armed forces in 2023, this year the production of drones is planned to increase several times and to be more precise, by almost 10 times," Putin said at a meeting of the military-industrial commission for the development of unmanned aviation systems for special purposes.

Putin added that the mass production of drones will be conducted through 48 specialized centers.

"Work on the design, testing and mass production of drones will be carried out on the basis of special research and production centers, 48 such sites are planned to be created in different regions by 2030," Putin said.

UAV production to increase 10X this year; need to improve technologies; who adapts first will prevail. ~VV Putin pic.twitter.com/IfGQBTwrtz

— HumaneRage (@HumaneRage) September 19, 2024

Read more: Air defenses repel massive drone attack over Russia’s Toropets: Moscow

Earlier this month, the New York Times  published an opinion piece discussing the revolution in warfare driven by AI-powered autonomous systems.

Drawing parallels with the historical use of Maxim guns by British forces to defeat thousands of Ndebele warriors, the modern equivalent is AI-enabled drones, which have forced Ukrainian forces to withdraw advanced US-provided Abrams tanks from the front lines after they were destroyed by Russian kamikaze drones, signaling the decline of manned mechanized warfare.

According to writers Raj Shah and Christopher Kirchhoff criticize, the US military's continued reliance on outdated, costly weapons systems, such as tanks, ships, and the F-35 stealth fighter, is falling behind in a world increasingly dominated by AI-driven technologies.

The F-35, despite its advanced capabilities, has less processing power than many smartphones, reflecting the military's outdated production cycles that are too slow to keep pace with rapid AI advancements.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon is attempting to bridge the gap between consumer technology and military innovation through its Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), established in 2015. Modeled after venture capital firms, DIU aims to bring Silicon Valley's cutting-edge technology into military use. The initiative has funneled billions into startups developing autonomous and AI-powered systems.

However, funding for these innovation programs remains a fraction of what is spent on legacy systems, the writers note.