'Wanted to make flying robots, not...': Developer upset as Ukraine uses his open-source code to make deadly drones

As Ukraine's Operation Spider Web rocked Russia, it has been revealed that open-source software used by hobbyist drones powered the attack that wiped out a third of Russia's strategic long-range bombers. The attack that took place on Sunday afternoon was seen as one of the most daring and technically coordinated attacks in modern warfare.

In broad daylight, explosions rocked air bases in Belaya, Olenya, and Ivanovo in Russia, which are hundreds of miles from Ukraine. However, the Operation, which took over a year of planning, was carried out using a nearly 20-year-old piece of open-source drone autopilot software called ArduPilot.

The original creator of ArduPilot expressed shock over the matter, recalling how the drone company just started out of a basement. “That's ArduPilot, launched from my basement 18 years ago. Crazy,” Chris Anderson said in a comment on LinkedIn below footage of the attack.

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'Just wanted to make flying robots': Anderson

Anderson eventually took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and tagged his co-creators, Jordi Muñoz and Jason Short, in a post about the attack. “Not in a million years would I have predicted this outcome. I just wanted to make flying robots,” Short said in a reply to Anderson. “Ardupilot-powered drones just took out half the Russian strategic bomber fleet.”

ArduPilot is an open-source software system that takes its name from the Arduino hardware systems it was originally designed to work with. The work on the source code began in 2007 when Anderson launched the website DIYdrones.com and cobbled together a UAV autopilot system out of a Lego Mindstorms set.

DIYdrones eventually became a home for UAV enthusiasts, and for two years, Anderson’s Lego UAV took flight. According to 404 Media, Muñoz and Anderson eventually founded 3DR, an early consumer drone company, and released the earliest versions of the ArduPilot software in 2009. Despite its popularity, the software system remains free to use and can be modified for various purposes.

“ArduPilot is a trusted, versatile, and open source autopilot system supporting many vehicle types: multi-copters, traditional helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft, boats, submarines, rovers, and more,” the project’s website reads. “The source code is developed by a large community of professionals and enthusiasts. New developers are always welcome!” Interestingly, the website analytics from 2023 showed that the project was very popular in both Ukraine and Russia since the start of the war.