On the eastern front, in an underground command post, Ukrainian soldiers who observed this took action. The on-duty officer entered the location of the Russian soldier into the computer. Then, on the digital battlefield map, a diamond-shaped marker automatically appeared, visible to all nearby deployed units. Within minutes, three attack drones took to the air and began approaching the target.
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The first drone missed. However, the on-duty officer of Ukraine’s 1st Separate Assault Regiment immediately relayed the strike coordinates and attack video to the commands of the other two units so they could attempt to kill the Russian soldier.
This blood-chilling sequence – detection, tracking, strike – entirely depends on powerful software created by Ukraine called “Delta.”
This software collects intelligence data streams from the battlefield, including drone-recorded videos, intercepted radio communications, and satellite images, into one platform that helps detect targets.
Then the system distributes targets to thousands of reconnaissance and attack drones flying around the clock, helping create a “kill zone” several tens of kilometers wide, where anything moving can be spotted and destroyed within seconds.
Colonel Artem Martynenka, overseeing the software’s development on behalf of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, calls “Delta” the “nervous system” of the drone army that has nearly stopped Russia’s advance on the battlefield.
Western military leadership has also taken notice. Former U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll called this software “absolutely incredible.” According to him, American forces are trying to keep up.
“Delta’s battlefield management system ‘fully integrates every drone, every sensor, and every platform into one common network,’” Driscoll explained during a Senate hearing in May, adding, “Our system can’t do that.”
NATO forces recognized the advantage of this system last year when Ukrainian drone units crushed Alliance formations during simulations at exercises held in Estonia.
Analysts believe that program systems like “Delta” mark a new stage in the evolution of warfare. In a drone-dominated battlefield, victory depends less on their number and more on how quickly they can be sent into attack. Ukraine and Russia are competing to develop a better system, and both sides are using artificial intelligence to gain an advantage.
The origins of the “Delta” system go back more than a decade. In 2014, a group of Ukrainian volunteers fighting against Russian-backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine began experimenting with reconnaissance drones. The goal of these trials was to more accurately adjust artillery fire and replace outdated tools like binoculars.
However, the data collected by drones was transmitted too slowly. Artillery units received intelligence only after many radio calls. One of the founders of the “Aerorozvidka” group, Yaroslav Honchar, recalled that by the time it was finally possible to fire at a target, its tracks were usually already cold.
The solution was the “Delta” software. Initially, its use was general, like a digital map where targets could be precisely marked.
According to Honchar, NATO funded this initiative, hoping to steer Ukraine toward an Alliance-adapted doctrine focused on rapid force coordination on the battlefield.
However, as the “Aerorozvidka” founder said, the Ukrainian armed forces resisted implementing this system for many years and clung to paper maps and radio transmitters.
Then, at the beginning of 2022, Russia launched a large-scale invasion.
When Russian forces’ columns rapidly approached Kyiv, Honchar was called to help identify their weak points. In the headquarters, almost surrounded in the city, he used the “Delta” software to compile a real-time picture of Moscow’s forces’ movements from a wealth of intelligence data – including civilian reports of tanks passing by their homes. Within days, Ukrainian forces began counterattacking the Russian army’s weak spots, trying to force it to retreat.
“Delta” is an example of how a keen eye on the battlefield can help defeat much larger forces, Honchar noted. Since then, the system has spread throughout the armed forces and last summer became Ukraine’s unified battlefield management system.
The “Delta” system flickered on the screens of the 1st Separate Assault Regiment’s command post, which, due to their number, resembled an air traffic control center.
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Officers sitting at those screens entered data into laptops. One of them coordinated ground units wearing three headsets: two on his ears and a third hanging around his neck. Crumpled energy drink cans lay scattered on the floor.
Reclining in a gaming chair, the commander with the call sign “Pyrotechnic” comfortably monitored the situation while the computers did the tedious work of gathering data. At that moment, he recalled times when endless radio communication was necessary.
“Now you just sit, have internet, open maps, and see who is where and what they are doing,” he said. Like other soldiers who spoke with The New York Times, he asked journalists to use only his call sign in the article.
His unit used the “Delta” system to process scattered data about spotted Russian soldiers and equipment. These details alone usually mean little, but in one case the software managed to connect all the dots and revealed where a Russian artillery crew was hiding.
Another brigade officer highlighted that one of the most useful “Delta” features is the ability to track targets over time. On his laptop, he clicked a red diamond on the map marking a Russian howitzer. A tab appeared on the right side of the screen showing when the howitzer was first spotted, how many times it was attacked, and which units carried out the attacks.
This tool allows other units to see the strike history and avoid attacking an object that has already been neutralized or repeating tactics that previously failed.
This is an old problem: due to inefficient information transfer, U.S. forces arriving in Afghanistan often repeated the mistakes of previous units.
By combining intelligence and attack tools, “Delta” also shortened what soldiers called the “kill chain” – the time from target detection to hitting it.
The chief of staff of a battalion in Ukraine’s “Charta” corps noted that previously, from the moment a unit reported an enemy position to the first artillery shells fired, at least 20 minutes passed. Now it takes 3 to 5 minutes.
“The faster your kill chain operates, the greater the chance of winning,” said Kateryna Bondar, senior fellow at the Washington Center for Strategic and International Studies.
In a recently published article, K. Bondar wrote that future wars will be decided by software, not drones. She noted that Russia is developing a “Delta” analogue, but Ukraine maintains the advantage. The analyst also warned that Western military forces must catch up quickly or risk falling behind.
A Ukrainian officer who participated in NATO exercises in Estonia last year recalled how military equipment continuously moved on the “Delta” desktop and could be destroyed with just one mouse click.
“It was like a carnival for us,” said the fighter with the call sign “Crow.”
The soldier noted that artificial intelligence, which Ukraine is trying to integrate into the “Delta” system, helped detect these vehicles so quickly.
Ukrainian forces trained AI tools designed to detect targets using millions of battlefield videos recorded by drones. Officials said they want AI integrated throughout the “Delta” system because it would help commanders make faster, data-driven decisions.
Danyla Cvokas, head of the Ministry of Defense’s AI center in Kyiv, presented his team’s latest product – the AI assistant “SPECTR.” This chatbot-type tool is essentially designed for the battlefield and is linked to “Delta” and other software. Combat commanders will soon be able to test this assistant when planning their attacks.
D. Cvokas described this technological advancement as a kind of arms race.
“The side that can make decisions faster will have the advantage in war,” he said.
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This article was published in The New York Times.
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