Small AI models let drones autonomously identify and attack battlefield targets

NATO-backed startup Scaleout Systems uses federated learning and small edge AI models to let military drones autonomously identify, prioritize, and attack battlefield targets.

Scaleout Systems, founded in 2018 by Uppsala University researchers, joined NATO's DIANA accelerator in 2025 and works on the Federated Aerial Intelligence for Recon project adapting machine learning for drone and forward-base edge hardware. Under the ALMA project led by BAE Systems Bofors, a demonstration showed a kamikaze drone autonomously detecting, prioritizing, and striking an armored engineering vehicle using onboard AI. Federated learning lets local nodes retrain models from battlefield sensor data and share updates without transmitting raw data; the company also tested this at a Swedish Air Force base in Uppsala.