The future of modern warfare is being built in Ukraine at this moment. New equipment is being developed and deployed in Ukraine at a significantly lower cost and in a remarkably shorter time compared to almost anywhere else in the world, Bloomberg reports. 

Ground drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which have been used on a large scale for the first time in the war with Russia, have sparked a revolution on the battlefield.

Russian forces under Russian President Vladimir Putin’s command have deployed nearly 695,000 soldiers along the front and continue to bombard civilian populations with missiles and drones. The main weapon against the invaders has become the adaptability of Ukraine’s defense industry.

A striking example is the modular robotic platform TerMIT, which serves both for transportation and clearing pathways. It is equipped with Starlink satellite internet and is already in use by more than 20 military units.

TenCore, a company that started in February 2024 with five employees, now has 175 workers and projects $80 million in revenue for 2025, due to producing over 2,000 units of equipment. Investors sought to buy the company, but TenCore refused.

Also, over 70% of Russian equipment has been destroyed by Ukrainian drones, making the country one of the most powerful drone armies in the world.

Russia, in response, is ramping up drone production and using technologies that make them harder to jam. While Moscow scales up production, Ukraine bets on innovation and creativity — and this could change the course of the war. Whichever model prevails will decide the outcome of the war.

The biggest obstacle for Ukraine’s defense industry is funding. Despite a defense budget of $12 billion, Ukraine’s production potential is three times greater than it is today. Kyiv seeks to attract more investment from its Western allies, including from the European new project SAFE, which envisions $150 billion for defense tech funding. 

Ukraine will produce weapons together with allies at home and abroad. Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov has announced the launch of a joint weapons production program with countries participating in the Ramstein format.

The program envisions creating new manufacturing capacities both within Ukraine and in partner countries.

Ukrainian manufacturers will receive a special legal and tax regime, enabling rapid scaling and modernization of defense production.

Until the war ends, all products from these enterprises will be supplied directly to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“This is a new type of military-industrial cooperation, where Ukraine is an equal partner and player on the global defense market,” Umerov emphasizes.

To implement the initiative, the Ministry of Defense, together with the Ukrainian Parliament’s Committee on Finance, Tax, and Customs Policy, has already presented key provisions of four draft laws to defense enterprises. The first vote in the parliament is expected to be conducted this month.

Earlier, Kyiv announced its air and missile defense systems would be integrated into the high-tech infrastructure of the Norwegian-American NASAMS complex. 

NASAMS can destroy drones, aircraft, helicopters, cruise missiles, and ballistic targets at medium and low altitudes in all weather conditions.

From junk food packaging to deep-strike drone raids, Ukraine is turning everyday materials into weapons—and using them to fight one of the largest militaries in the world, Defense News reports.

In early 2024, near the front lines of Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast, Ukrainian drone operator Vadim Adamov reached for an empty Pringles can. Out of standard metal casings for explosives, he packed the can with sulphate and plastic explosive, hooked it to a DJI Mavic drone, and sent it flying.

“I don’t need your f***ing American shells,” Adamov said, launching the makeshift bomb at a Russian armored vehicle. It worked.

The can cost $1.50. The drone, a few thousand. The destroyed target? Likely worth hundreds of thousands.

Ukraine’s low-cost drones are delivering high-value results

Ukraine’s improvised weapons strategy—born from necessity—is now at the core of its military doctrine. Drones, especially first-person view (FPV) types, are being used for surveillance, direct attacks, and long-range sabotage.

In 2024 alone, Ukraine produced 2.2 million drones. Officials expect that number to more than double to 5 million in 2025.

Much of this production happens in basements, garages, and converted print shops, where parts like motors and cameras are assembled by hobbyists and technicians—many of them self-taught or under 25 years old.

Operation Spiderweb was a warning shot

The June 2024 Operation Spiderweb made headlines when hundreds of Ukrainian drones were smuggled into Russia and used to destroy strategic bombers and spy planes.

But experts say the surprise wasn’t the technology—it was the scale.

“These are the same basic tactics we’ve seen since the start of the war,” a Ukrainian defense official told Defense News. “Spiderweb just showed how far they can go.”

Frontline pilots, gamified warfare

At drone units near Lyman in eastern Ukraine, operators watch footage of confirmed hits, train on obstacle courses, and even earn digital medals and bonuses for successful strikes.

“The best thing to do if you hear one is to play dead,” one pilot said. “But if it gets that close, you’re probably dead already.”

This war now includes leaderboards, ranking systems, and financial incentives for drone kills. It’s war fought with joysticks and VR goggles—sometimes by soldiers barely out of their teens.

Russia responds, and Ukraine counters again

The drone war is now a back-and-forth tech race. Ukrainian forces began using signal jammers to break drone communications. Russia responded by adding ultra-thin fiber-optic spools to their drones, making them resistant to jamming.

Ukraine’s latest move: physical netting over trenches and roads to intercept incoming drones.

The battlefield is evolving daily—this is a “digital trench war,” with each side pushing the limits of adaptation.

More than air power: Ground and sea drones on the rise

At the BraveOne defense-tech conference in Kyiv (February 2025), Kharkiv-based engineer Sasha Rubina unveiled a prototype unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) to deliver food and ammunition to the front.

“The idea is that the person controlling it is in a safe place,” Rubina said. “The fewer people exposed, the more lives we save.”

Ukraine’s strategy now includes land, air, and sea drones, and many of these platforms are produced domestically and deployed within weeks.

Why this matters: Cheap can beat powerful

Ukraine’s military is stretched thin. Since the failed 2023 counteroffensive, the army has faced manpower shortages and frontline fatigue. With negotiations stalled and traditional weapons in limited supply, drones offer a scalable alternative.

As Kipling wrote in Arithmetic on the Frontier:
“Two thousand pounds of education falls to a ten-rupee jezail.”

The line, originally about British officers being killed by cheaply armed fighters in colonial wars, underscores a core truth of asymmetric warfare: expensive training and hardware can still fall to low-cost, clever resistance.

In 2025, it’s a $100 drone destroying a $100,000 tank.

“The odds,” Kipling added, “are on the cheaper man.”