Surveillance AI for the Bundeswehr

The German Armed Forces are planning the first large-scale use of AI in border surveillance. The secret project, dubbed “Uranos KI”, is intended to bundle and evaluate reconnaissance data from drones, satellites and radar stations, reports Handelsblatt, citing anonymous sources. The German Armed Forces hope that this will provide them with a complete picture of the situation and faster decisions in combat.

NATO's eastern border is over 1600 kilometers long, not including the exclave of Kaliningrad. Constantly monitoring this border would require an enormous amount of manpower, which is to be reduced through the use of AI.

Deployment as early as 2026

According to Handelsblatt, the project is worth around 80 million euros. The plan is for the procurement bill to be passed by the Bundestag in the summer. Bids from two companies are to be tested in competition until a winner is determined. The successful system should be available to the 45 Armored Brigade stationed in Lithuania as early as 2026.

The bidders for the project include industry giants such as Airbus and Rheinmetall, as well as the armaments start-ups Quantum Systems and Helsing. Quantum Systems produces long-range reconnaissance drones, which are also used by Ukraine on the battlefield. Helsing, on the other hand, is primarily active in the field of AI-based software for drones, but also supplies drones from partner companies to Ukraine that fly with Helsing software. The German armed forces are currently in the final stages of procuring armed drones, including from Helsing.

Autonomous weapon systems

In a second step, the Bundeswehr is looking for software to pass on the collected reconnaissance data to autonomous weapon systems such as drones and digitally networked units. This would allow reconnaissance targets to be engaged more quickly – but the decision to attack would always remain with a human. However, this system is not part of the current tender.

(acha)