Photo: 1129th Anti-aircraft Missile Regiment. Courtesy of @DefenceUA / X The disruption of Russian access to Starlink became a major contributing factor, allowing Ukraine to regain around 300 square kilometers of territory. Although this time Ukraine’s cooperation with SpaceX has been productive, in the past, there have been multiple instances in which Starlink services were […]
Menej ako 1 min.
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The disruption of Russian access to Starlink became a major contributing factor, allowing Ukraine to regain around 300 square kilometers of territory.
Although this time Ukraine’s cooperation with SpaceX has been productive, in the past, there have been multiple instances in which Starlink services were deliberately restricted, affecting Ukrainian operations.
For several years, Ukraine has been working on alternatives to Starlink, including the establishment of a military mobile operator — an innovation that began developing directly in frontline laboratories.
In this edition:
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Ukraine-U.S. Partnership in the Unmanned Tech Sector;
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Challenges Faced by Ukraine’s Air Defence Units;
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Ukraine Plans to Establish a Military Mobile Operator;
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and 10+ additional developments in defence tech, transfers, and partnerships in Ukraine.
Thank you for reading and supporting my work!
Last week, I joined Samuel Bendett, one of the leading experts on Russia, on his podcast to discuss drone developments on the battlefield. Listen to the recording on X Spaces.
Ukraine-U.S. Partnership in the Unmanned Tech Sector
Ukraine has been focusing on strengthening its partnership with the American private sector, including industry leaders, innovators, and potential defence tech partners.
According to Militarnyi, American partners reviewed and tested several Ukrainian drones as part of work on the Drone Deal. This was stated by the spokesperson of Ukraine’s MFA. Work on the Drone Deal with the United States was announced by President Zelensky last autumn.
Reportedly, Kyiv had proposed a five-year, $50 billion framework that would involve producing up to 10 million drones annually.
Read the September section: Ukraine-U.S. Drone Deal and Military Exports.
In early February, it was announced that Ukrainian drone manufacturers General Cherry and the lesser-known Ukrainian Defense Drones Tech Corp had received invitations from the United States to participate in the Drone Dominance Program, which has a $1.1 billion budget.
The process is currently at the initial stage of the competition. The first phase will involve direct testing of drones submitted by 25 manufacturers.
General Cherry told Defense Express that entry into the first stage of the program required submitting a detailed technical description of the system, confirming compliance with NDAA requirements and U.S. legislation, disclosing ownership structure and supply chains, demonstrating the ability to scale mass production within tight timeframes, and passing a preliminary selection process among hundreds of companies worldwide.
General Cherry is presenting a system that integrates reconnaissance, target detection, and strike capabilities.
To implement the project, the company plans to localize final assembly in the United States or allied countries and establish a separate compliance framework tailored to U.S. contracts. Production streams for international customers and for Ukraine’s Defense Forces will be separated, allowing the company to avoid competition for resources.
Separately, in January, Ukraine’s government platform Brave1, together with the American company Palantir, launched Brave1 Dataroom, a secure environment designed to train and test artificial intelligence models using real-world battlefield data. Brave1 Dataroom is built on Palantir’s software platforms.
Additionally, in March 2026, Brave1 will conduct a U.S. Roadshow—a two-week investment tour across U.S. cities—during which Ukrainian defence-technology startups will showcase their solutions to American venture capital funds, offices, corporations, and lawmakers.
Check out my earlier articles and sections on Ukraine–North America defence cooperation.
Challenges Faced by Ukraine’s Air Defence Units
The commander of the 1030th Separate Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion “Aquila” of the Third Army Corps, in an interview with 24 Kanal, explained how Ukraine has built a layered air defence system against enemy UAVs. His unit operates in an area of responsibility exceeding 150 km, covering parts of Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions.
