Counter-drone technologies and joint ventures in drone production are the focus of this report. This is the third edition of my weekly 2-pager on drone warfare in Ukraine and Russia. As promised, this newsletter section is now available only to the VIP-tier subscribers. The most important information, collected with the goal of saving your reading time!

For those coming across it for the first time, this publication is a list of short updates on developments across the air, land, and sea domains in Ukraine and Russia, including counter-drone capabilities, business deals, and opportunities to work with Ukraine. You can read the first two free editions here.

My regular newsletters, Arms Trends in Ukraine and Drone Warfare in Ukraine, provide deeper analysis of many of these developments.

Also, I occasionally publish free content: Defence Tech in Ukraine and Open Access Posts.

Aerial Drones

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Second edition of my Ukraine Drone Brief. Here you’ll find the week’s most important developments distilled into a two-page report.

My first publication drove a record number of new subscribers and strong engagement, so I’m keeping this one free for one more week.

Read the first edition here, and don’t forget to choose the “VIP” tier when subscribing—future editions will be available exclusively to VIP members.

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Aerial Drones

• Russian sources report the emergence of a new Ukrainian fixed-wing strike drone, referred to as “Martian,” with a claimed cruising speed of up to 300 km/h. The system operates at low altitudes—up to 200 meters—and is designed to fly with a minimal acoustic signature. Ukrainian sources have neither confirmed nor denied the existence of such a system.

Ground Drones

• Zelenskyy instructed the MoD to supply 50,000 UGVs to the military in 2026.

• The commander of Ukraine’s Third Army Corps has set a goal for 2026: to withdraw one-third of infantry from the front line and replace them with unmanned ground systems (UGVs). The Third Army Corps is currently leading in the successful use of UGVs.

• FPV drones remain the most significant risk to UGVs on the battlefield. Ukrainian Ratel Robotics has begun field testing its in-house developed net launchers mounted on UGVs.

• Russia deploys at least 20 types of ground-based drones in its war against Ukraine. UGVs are now being actively deployed for logistics, casualty evacuation, reconnaissance, and direct fire support.

Naval Drones

• Russians attempt to use uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) to conduct attacks along the Black Sea coast, including in the area around Odesa. However, such cases are not widespread.

C-UAS

• Ukrainian General Cherry’s interceptor drones ranked first among domestic producers in enemy drone kills in March 2026. 11,473 hits were recorded over the course of the month, which is 5,800 more than in the previous period.

• Ukraine’s MoD is procuring 8,000 Octopus interceptor drones. Production involves 29 licensed Ukrainian companies. Scaling became possible after the government opened the transfer of military technologies to domestic manufacturers. The UK supports this project.

Business Deals

• New cooperation format announced: Drone Deals. Zelensky announced that Ukraine is set to open its arms exports via so-called “Drone Deals” with countries that have supported Ukraine. The first agreement was signed with the Netherlands.

• Poland and Ukraine will develop a so-called “drone armada,” combining Polish financing with Ukraine’s battlefield experience. The project is expected to involve the European Defence Fund.

• Ukraine and Estonia agreed to expand cooperation in joint weapons production, with emphasis on drone and counter-drone systems.

• Ukraine and Norway agreed to jointly produce several thousand “mid-strike drones,” to be manufactured in Norway and delivered directly to Ukrainian defence forces.

• Ukrainian TAF Industries and Finland’s Summa Defence signed an MoU to scale up drone production in Finland under the Build with Ukraine initiative

• Japanese Terra Drone announced its second strategic investment in Ukraine’s fixed-wing interceptor drone company WinnyLab LLC. The first deal was with Ukraine’s Amazing Drones.

• UK-based Tekever, Windracers, and Malloy Aeronautics have been selected as three primary suppliers in the UK Government’s largest-ever drone support package for Ukraine, which includes 120,000 drones.

Related Geopolitical Developments

• Ukrainian drone producer TAF Industries received a request from a shipowner to deploy some of its experts equipped with anti-drone systems to the Middle East. Their task would be to provide a military consulting service to ensure the protection of a vessel while it transits the Strait of Hormuz.

• Ukraine is sharing its experience in countering drones with Azerbaijan.

• For years, Iran has closely studied Ukraine’s lessons in drone warfare, from the resilience of Ukrainian defence production to the use of 3D printers to mass-produce cheap drones.

• During the Aurora 26 exercises in Sweden, Ukrainian military personnel led the training track on drone operations. Swedish air defence units were learning to use reconnaissance and strike UAVs and to protect themselves against explosive drops from attack drones.

• Finland will join the international drone coalition to support Ukraine. As of January 2026, the coalition included 19 member states.

Useful Resources

• Unmanned Systems Tracker - an open-source database making verified data on drone warfare, air defence, and military losses in Ukraine more accessible to researchers, journalists, and the general public.

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If you want to read my 10-page-long newsletter with extra details, here is the most recent edition: “Drone warfare in Ukraine: Martian drones, swarms and mesh technology”.

Short on time? This 2-page weekly brief distills the key developments in unmanned warfare in Ukraine and Russia—across domains, including C-UAS, industry activity, and opportunities to work with Ukraine.

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Aerial Drones

• Ukraine aims to produce more than 7 million drones in 2026. According to the MoD, over 4 million drones were produced in 2025.

• Ukrainian 1st Azov Corps claimed that its drones, which can be identified as Hornets, are flying over the occupied Donetsk city. The fixed-wing AI-enabled Hornet drone is built by US-based Swift Beat LLC. Starlink satellite terminals are used to ensure reliable communication with operators.

• Moves toward standardization: Ukraine is introducing a universal ground control station for fiber-optic drones. Previously, military personnel relied on a variety of systems with different features, which complicated their use. Fiber-optic drones remain one of the most significant challenges on the frontline, with no effective countermeasure yet identified.

• As global prices increase, Ukraine’s MoD has updated the procurement mechanism for fiber-optic drones by introducing contract price adjustments tied to fluctuations in the cost of key components.

• The UK will transfer 120,000 unmanned systems to Ukraine by the end of 2026, including long-range strike drones, intelligence and reconnaissance platforms, logistics drones, and maritime capabilities.

• Ukraine has introduced drone assault units that combine aerial and ground unmanned systems. According to Ukraine, since February, a large area of territory has been liberated, thanks to the use ​of ​these advanced ⁠units.

• Russia has developed a system that enables coordinated group use of strike drones based on Supercam reconnaissance drones. It is claimed that within this concept, a single operator can control up to ten kamikaze drones.

• Russia has built new launch rails for its jet-powered Geran drones. The launch rails reach approximately 85 meters—about three times longer than those for conventional UAVs.

Ground Drones

• Ukraine is scaling the use of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) across a wide range of missions and plans to supply 25,000 units in the first half of 2026. In 2025, it supplied 15,000 UGVs. Currently, UGVs are used mostly for logistics and med-evac missions, but their role as strike systems is growing.

  Russia prioritizes strikes against Ukraine’s UGVs using their fiber-optic and regular FPV drones.

Naval Drones

• For the first time, Ukraine destroyed a Russian kamikaze Shahed-type drone using an interceptor drone (STING/Wild Hornets) launched from an unmanned surface vessel (naval drone). The interceptor drone was specifically designed for this mission – it features a more advanced communications system and a remote launch capability.

• Naval drones are evolving into mobile launch platforms: a vessel reaches a designated point, deploys 10–15 multirotor drones, and acts as both air defence and a strike system. Operators can control those multi-rotor drones remotely from any city—mirroring the logic of a ‘Spiderweb’-type operation, but at sea.

C-UAS

• A Ukrainian manufacturer, Wild Hornets, demonstrated what it called a “record-breaking” launch of an interceptor drone over 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles), with the operator based in northern Ukraine. They used their Hornet Vision Ctrl system.

• More than 10 manufacturers in Ukraine have integrated remote control for interceptor drones into their systems, enabling the destruction of aerial targets from distances of hundreds to even thousands of kilometers.

• Ukraine simplified the process of upgrading aircraft to counter Russian drones. It is now possible to install weapons and communications, navigation, and target detection systems without lengthy approvals. The entire process will be reduced to one month. Now, there are reports of An-28 aircraft being equipped with P1-SUN interceptors.

Business Deals

Ukraine is advancing industrial cooperation and joint drone production with international partners, primarily in Europe and North America, and is also expanding into Asia.

• According to a Tech Force in UA survey, 90% of Ukrainian defence companies have received partnership offers from foreign manufacturers, led by the United States (36% of requests), followed by Germany (29%), Denmark (21%), the United Arab Emirates (19%), and the United Kingdom (17%).

• Ukraine expands “Drone Deal” partnerships: The agreement was signed with the Netherlands (April 16).

• A separate, broader defence agreement was signed with Germany (April 14), under which Germany will continue to support Ukraine’s drone industry and facilitate co-production ventures.

• “Build with Ukraine” initiative: Germany’s Quantum-Systems is partnering with Ukrainian WIY Drones to work on air defence capabilities. Quantum-Systems has also partnered with Tencore on the development of ground robots.

• Auterion Airlogix Joint Venture GmbH has received an order to produce thousands of heavy drones (Anubis and Seth-X), equipped with artificial intelligence, for Ukraine, with Germany’s support.

• Ukrainian Tencore and French Shark Robotics are establishing a joint venture to produce ground robotic systems.

• Japanese Terra Drone is partnering with Amazing Drones on interceptor drone production. Their Terra A1 interceptor has reportedly moved from laboratory testing to frontline deployment.

Related Geopolitical Developments

• Drawing on Ukraine’s experience, NATO artillery crews training in the Arctic are incorporating drones into targeting practices. However, the systems used in these exercises have demonstrated vulnerability to the harsh Arctic environment.

• The United States has reportedly deployed Ukraine’s Sky Map command platform—developed by Sky Fortress with support from Brave1—at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, where it integrates radar and over 10,000 acoustic sensors into an interactive dashboard for real-time threat tracking.

Work with Ukraine

• Brave1 UK Roadshow: In June, Brave1 will host the UK Investment Tour, bringing Ukrainian defence companies to present their technologies to the key players in the UK defence industry. Register here.

• The Defence Tech Department of the Snake Island Institute (associated with the Third Army Corps) is building a data bank of acoustic signatures to counter FPV threats. Over a 9–12 month period, the team will create a comprehensive library of real-world FPV acoustic signatures across diverse operational conditions. They are looking for 25,000 EUR in funding.

• Dragon Sky drone training and research center conducts consulting programs for producers of unmanned technologies from partner countries, including testing under combat conditions of UAV systems, UGV/USV systems, electronic warfare solutions (detection and jamming), software (detection, planning, and communications), safety countermeasures, and other systems (such as lasers, radars, and AI) at its facilities.

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