Billionaire investor and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt wants the U.S. military to phase out its tanks, artillery and mortars, which he is building to help Ukraine. He said the time has come to introduce similar aerial drones.
“I read somewhere that the United States has thousands of tanks stored somewhere,” he told the Saudi Future Investment Initiative on Wednesday.
“Give them away. Buy a drone instead.”
Mr. Schmidt's comment Bloomberg News reported.
Schmidt is Listed on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index As of Wednesday, he was worth $33.3 billion, making him the 51st richest person in the world.
The former head of Google said the Russia-Ukraine war proved “how a $5,000 drone can destroy a $5 million tank.”
Earlier this year, Forbes reported that Schmidt is the founder of military startup White Stork, which has developed “kamikaze drones” designed to roam the battlefield before being dispatched to destroy targets. It was reported that there was.
“Stork” also refers to a type of bird commonly found in Ukraine, where Schmidt plays a key role in supporting the country's defense efforts to repel Russian aggression.
According to Forbes magazine, the company is developing a mass-produced drone that uses artificial intelligence to aim at targets even in environments where communications are cut off due to GPS jamming.
Last July, Schmidt wrote: Wall Street Journal editorial Promoting drones as the “future of war”.
According to Schmidt, the Ukrainian military achieved “success” thanks to the deployment of unmanned aerial vehicles. This is despite Russia having a three-to-one advantage in military strength and air superiority.
Although Ukraine suffered heavy losses, it “continued to innovate and outperform its opponents.”
Schmidt served as Google's CEO from 2001 to 2011, a period of rapid growth for the California-based technology company.
He later became executive chairman of Google, and in 2015 became executive chairman of its new parent company, Alphabet, before stepping down as chairman in 2018.
