📆 ANNOUNCEMENT: On January 31 at 12:00 Moscow time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host an online discussion titled “Unmanned Weapons and Artificial Intelligence: Is Russia Ready for the Challenges of Modern Tactical Warfare?”

Combat drones have long been an integral part of modern warfare. They have played an important role in most recent military campaigns, including Russia’s operation in Syria. Russia now has over 2,000 UAVs in service, mostly long-range drones.

According to UN estimates, today more than 100 countries throughout the world use drones for military purposes. Some of them use autonomous UAVs that can be pre-programmed to track down a live target and strike without outside control. Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian army to improve and implement unmanned aerial vehicles using artificial intelligence.

❓What are the most important trends in the development of the global UAV industry and what are the reasons for the success of new players in this market?
❓What is the situation with the production and use of UAVs by the Russian Armed Forces?
❓Is the Russian army ready for conflicts involving the massive use of drones?
❓Will Russia be able to become one of the world leaders in the production of combat drones?

Participants of the discussion will answer these and other questions.

👥 Speakers:

🔹 Anton Bespalov, PhD in political sciences, valdaiclub.com Deputy Editor-in-Chief

🔹 Vasily Kashin, Director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies, Higher School of Economics

🔹 Dmitry Stefanovich, Research Fellow,Center for International Security, Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO RAS)

Moderator:

🚩 Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club

Working languages: Russian, English.

ℹ️ Information for the media: In order to get accredited for the event, please fill out the form on our website or call +79269307763.

A link to the live broadcast of the discussion will be posted on all online platforms used by the Valdai Club: on the website, on Facebook, Vkontakte, Instagram, and Telegram.

🔗 Valdai Club to Discuss UAVs and Russia's Readiness for Modern Tactical Warfare

#Norms_and_Values #UAVs #warfare

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

🕹🚁 It is becoming obvious that the arms race in the 21st century will not only be a race of nuclear missiles, but also a race of combat drones.

Modern warfare, on a tactical level, is becoming less distinguishable from a computer game.

This feeling of having power over life and death, the right to execute and pardon, which, we repeat, is the most important aspect of that seductive aesthetics of war in computer games, has now been transferred into reality.

📝 As a result, aesthetics triumph over ethics in the most important issue — human life, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Oleg Barabanov.

🔗 Combat Drones: Aesthetics and Ethics of War

#Norms_and_Values #UAVs #drones

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club