The experience of the past three years has underlined the critical importance of technological innovation for the Ukrainian war effort as the country seeks to overcome the significant material advantages enjoyed by Russia in key areas including manpower, equipment, firepower, and funding. While this emphasis on innovation cannot completely even up the odds, defense tech solutions are helping Ukraine to minimize the impact of the enemy’s far greater resources.
At Ukraine’s defense tech cluster Brave1, we are working to support the further growth of the country’s defense tech industry. During 2024, this included support for over 3200 separate projects developed by more than 1400 companies and backed by grants in excess of $10 million. While it would be extremely challenging to produce an exhaustive list of success stories throughout Ukraine’s diverse and dynamic defense tech sector, it is possible to identify a number of key achievements from the past twelve months.
Interceptor Drones
During 2024, the Russian army in Ukraine was confronted by numerous examples of game-changing tools developed by Ukrainian defense tech companies. One particularly important category was interceptor drones. The war currently underway between Russia and Ukraine is widely acknowledged as the world’s first large-scale drone war. Since February 2022, drone technologies have evolved at a remarkable rate. As attack and reconnaissance drones have become more and more ubiquitous on the modern battlefield, the need for effective interceptor drones has become increasingly apparent.
In April 2024, Ukraine launched a competition to identify the most effective interceptor drone solutions, with dozens of Ukrainian drone manufacturers participating. This resulted in the development of interceptor drones that successfully protect the Ukrainian army’s rear areas against Russian reconnaissance drones. One of these models is already credited with around twenty confirmed hits on enemy spy drones and is now being used by Ukrainian drone units on the Kursk, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia fronts.
During the past year, Ukrainian drone producers have also managed to develop domestic alternatives to widely used Chinese drones. This is a significant step forward as while Chinese drones have proved important workhorses of the drone war, their prominence has left Ukraine dangerously dependent on imports and vulnerable to possible disruption in supply chains. The new domestically produced option meets NATO standards and allows the Ukrainian military to reduce its reliance on China.
Incorporating Artificial Intelligence
Ukraine has already made significant progress in its efforts to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) technologies into the country’s military drone fleet. At the initial stage, this led to the development of drones capable of locking onto targets identified by operators during the final phase of flight prior to impact. This makes these drones highly resistant to Russian electronic warfare jamming technologies, which typically seek to disrupt the connection between drones and operators. During 2024, the Ukrainian government began concluding contracts for the production of first person view (FVP) drones featuring AI-guided targeting.
Ukrainian developers are now working on the next stage in the evolution in AI-driven drone technologies. The goal is to produce a new generation of drones that utilize artificial intelligence not only at the final targeting stage, but throughout their flight. These drones should also be capable of autonomous target recognition.
Deep Strike Capabilities
2024 was the year when Ukraine brought Putin’s invasion home to Russia and made the enemy realize that their domestic front was no longer safe from attack. This was possible thanks to the appearance of long-range strike drones developed by Ukrainian manufacturers. Ukraine’s growing fleet of long-range drones includes models that are capable of hitting targets more than a thousand kilometers away including airfields, oil refineries and depots, and military infrastructure.
This capacity to strike deep inside Russia has helped to offset a lack of sufficient missiles capable of reaching targets located far from the Ukrainian border. Kyiv’s international partners have also been notoriously reluctant to authorize attacks inside Russia using Western-supplied weapons, although these restrictions were relaxed in the final weeks of 2024.
Attracting Investors
The expansion of Ukraine’s defense tech sector made international headlines in 2024 and has also increasingly attracted the attention of international investors. Brave1 has been closely involved in this process with initiatives including the Defense Tech Valley investment summit, which took place in October 2024 in the Ukrainian capital and was attended by more than 800 participants including Ukrainian and international investors, defense tech developers, military personnel, and government officials.
Investor interest in Ukraine’s battlefield-tested defense technologies is already translating into commercial outcomes, with over $40 million invested in the country’s defense tech industry during 2024. Brave1 is committed to maintaining this momentum, and is currently engaged with around 240 investment partners from at least 35 different countries.
Ukraine’s 2025 Priorities
The defense tech advances of the past year have had a significant impact on the Ukrainian war effort. However, it is important to underline that in modern warfare, the innovation contest is a constant struggle that requires a high degree of creativity, consistency, and coordination. With new technologies appearing on the battlefield on an almost daily basis, any delays in the chain from development to deployment can prove deadly.
Looking ahead, nobody can predict exactly what kinds of defense tech challenges may emerge during the coming months. Nevertheless, it is already possible to identify a number of strategic priorities for the Ukrainian military in 2025.
Expanding Missile Arsenal
Ukraine expanded its domestic missile program in 2024, with Brave1 issuing grants for the development of Ukrainian-made missiles. This is part of efforts to expand Ukraine’s ability to strike back at targets inside Russia, which is recognized as a priority by the Ukrainian military. Some of Ukraine’s missile development breakthroughs have already been made public. We expect that in the coming months, Russia will have plenty of firsthand experience demonstrating how far Ukraine’s missile program has advanced.
Drone Swarms
As the art of drone warfare continues to evolve, so do the tactics employed by drone forces. We are now moving beyond the initial concept of “one drone, one operator” and transitioning toward the more widespread use of drone swarm technologies. This approach makes it possible to control multiple drones and coordinate their actions using artificial intelligence.
A number of Ukrainian teams are already developing drone swarm solutions and putting them into practice. The further development of drone swarm capabilities will shape the future of drone warfare and will likely remain a strategic priority for the Ukrainian army throughout 2025. From a military perspective, it is critical for Ukraine to outpace the enemy in the deployment of this next generation technology.
Almost every single day, Ukraine is attacked by large numbers of Russian Shahed drones. These drones frequently cause significant damage to civilian targets across Ukraine such as residential buildings and the country’s energy infrastructure. In order to counter Russia’s daily drone attacks, Ukrainian developers are working on a range of creative solutions that aim to significantly reduce the effectiveness of Russian Shahed drones during 2025.
Global Defense Tech Hub
This is far from a complete list of Ukraine’s defense tech priorities for the coming year. Indeed, for obvious reasons, much of what we aim to accomplish over the next twelve months will only become known to the enemy after the fact. At this point, we can say with a high degree of confidence that Ukraine is well positioned to further solidify its status in 2025 as one of the world’s leading defense tech innovation hubs.