Ukraine’s military-industrial complex has been transformed into a global leader in robotic warfare over the past four years, with low-cost drones, ground robotic systems and other automated technologies pushed into service to defend against Russia in the fifth year of the conflict. The result is a battlefield where a new kind of soldier does not breathe or sleep and recently successfully negotiated the surrender of three Russian soldiers, while human judgment is still kept in the loop and no fully independent weapon system has been deployed.
Who Built the Sling
The transformation was described as having begun with “geniuses in garages,” a phrase that captures how ordinary people were pulled into a war economy after Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s former defense minister from 2021-2023, said the country’s response followed the David-and-Goliath model. “You know this story, I am absolutely sure, about David and Goliath,” Reznikov told the Magazine. “David was young, but very brave and smart. And he used cutting-edge technology as a stone and sling. And he defeated the monster. So we did the same.”
Reznikov said that when the war began, Ukraine was facing a military giant and did not have the resources to meet fire with fire. “Our geniuses in garages started screwing different types of electronic warfare systems onto toys,” he said, adding, “We call them ‘wedding ceremony drones’ because they were used at weddings before the war.” He said the whole country became volunteers, with some going to the frontline and others going to garages to build things for the frontline “for neighbors, brothers, roommates.” “It became a movement of great new ideas,” he said.
Reznikov also described a disagreement with four-star general Valerii Zaluzhnyi over the usefulness of commercial drones. “I was criticized,” Reznikov said with a smile. “General Zaluzhnyi told me, ‘I don’t need wedding ceremony drones. I need something more serious like Raptor or Bayraktar [advanced American and Turkish military drones, respectively].’” Reznikov said he had no right to buy Chinese wedding ceremony drones with government funds, but did have the right to persuade partners to give him serious drones. “This war is a war of unconventional approaches. We needed to find David’s sling. And we found it,” he said.
Who Pays for the Upgrade
Hanna Hvozdiar, adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister, said the early phase of the effort was “romantic,” but that the industry has since evolved into a sophisticated, government-backed ecosystem. Hvozdiar, who is responsible for scaling garage innovations into a formal defense sector, said, “When Russia fully invaded us in 2022, we really were not prepared. I think these technologies emerged from shortages of ammunition and equipment on the frontline. But we didn’t want to give up. We needed to give our soldiers the tools to do their jobs. It was literally a matter of survival.”
She said the government has removed legislative barriers, introduced incentives and established grants to accelerate innovation, adding, “We started with the resilience of people, and today the government’s support has produced real results.” The language of support sits beside the reality that the war’s demands pushed people into improvisation because of shortages of ammunition and equipment on the frontline.
Reznikov said the pivot to low-cost robotics changed the mathematical logic of the war. He said one FPV [first-person-view] drone with thermal vision may cost a maximum of $500, while Russian tanks cost at least $12 million. He said two FPV drones costing only a few hundred dollars could destroy them instead of using artillery shells worth thousands of euros. He cited the sinking of the Russian flagship Moskva in April 2022 as proof of concept, saying, “We sank the Russian flagship using Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles. You don’t need to invest a billion dollars in a warship. You need cheaper but smarter solutions – in the water, in the air, and on the ground.”
The New Defense Ecosystem
Hvozdiar said ground robotic systems are now being deployed for logistics, mining, demining and medical evacuation. “The ground robotic system capability is quite new for us,” she said. “The industry’s role is to create systems for different purposes. But deployment is also a challenge – integrating these systems into military units, planning operations, and implementing them effectively.” She said, “Because this capability is new, we don’t yet have ground robotic specialists. We don’t have ground robotic unit commanders. We are learning every single day.”
She said one of the most significant breakthroughs was the recently documented capture of Russian soldiers by a robot. “This operation was something entirely new,” she said. “It wasn’t only about the technology; it was about planning and execution. Many people were involved. That’s how they managed to capture those prisoners. It required intelligence cooperation, robot operators, and the robotic platform itself.” Hvozdiar also said robots are now being built to evacuate other robots damaged by Russian FPV drones. “I like the robots that serve our soldiers best,” she said. “But we continue creating new solutions; for example, robotic systems designed to evacuate other robotic systems that are ‘wounded’ or damaged by Russian FPV drones. Now we even have robots for robot evacuations.”
On artificial intelligence, Hvozdiar said AI is already being used in some systems for navigation and in others to detect incoming threats, especially in counter-UAS systems. “There are AI solutions already implemented,” she said. “In some systems, AI is used for navigation. In others, AI helps detect incoming threats, especially in counter-UAS systems. But there is no fully independent system at the moment.” She said, “We are fighting on our own territory, not on enemy territory. So the final decision must still be made by a human.” She also said the next goal is “100% automatization of air defense.” “We can do this with robots, and that could protect countless civilians suffering from Russian airstrikes every day,” she said. “A fully automated solution that can detect and destroy a target without human involvement – that is the next goal.”
Hvozdiar said the interest from military attachés and defense companies around the world is huge, and that the interest is not only in the technology itself but in the broader capability, including industry, trained operators, commanders and training systems. “The interest is huge,” she said. “But it’s not only interest in the technology itself. The interest is broader – it’s about capability. We’re talking about industry, trained operators, commanders, and training systems. All of this forms part of the defense ecosystem.” She added, “The interest in this capability is enormous because it is so new. We keep experimenting with ground robotic systems, deep-strike drones, air interceptors, and Shahed-interceptor drones. This capability is new for the entire world.”
Reznikov said the war is not a traditional conventional war like the Second World War. “It is a completely new type of war,” he said. “We are simultaneously using Soviet-era trenches and weapons, NATO-standard systems, and entirely new technologies – robots that fly, jump, swim, and crawl.” The article said Ukraine did not set out to become a world leader in military robotics, but set out to survive, and in doing so forged a “sling” that modern militaries around the world may now be forced to adopt.