Ukraine

Though Ukraine has gained well deserved admiration for its innovative and potent deployment of repurposed commercial and enterprise drones ­– as well as craft created exclusively for military use – its fighters may now be losing their aerial advantage as Russia shows its own capabilities with adapted UAVs.

As part of the effort to strengthen its domestic UAV production for defensive deployment against Russia’s continuing invasion, Ukraine is testing a drone specially developed to accelerate and improve the detection and elimination of deadly landmines.

In their overlapping efforts to defeat Russia’s invading army while increasingly relying on domestic production of materials to obtain that objective, officials from Ukraine have said they’ll rapidly augment the number of drones the nation manufactures to tens of thousands per month.

Its reputation resplendent in large part due to the critical performance of its tech in service of Ukraine’s defense against invading Russian forces, German drone and robotics company Quantum-Systems has completed an eye-opening €63.6 million ($66.8 million) Series B funding round, pushing its total financing beyond the €100 million ($106 million) threshold.

Defense and security UAV specialist Teledyne FLIR Defense has unveiled the upgraded fourth-generation model of its highly touted Black Hornet drone, an aerial asset that has proven vital in surveillance and intelligence gathering work for Ukraine defense forces, among others.

With Ukraine battling dozens of incoming, explosive-packed Russian drones assaulting its cities every night, one additional concern in shooting those craft down is the considerable cost to the nation’s financially strapped defense reserves that involves – a pinch an Australian counter-UAV tech producer is now acting to solve.

In what may rank as one of the most “no kidding” cases of creativity, determination, and inspiration being given its rightful due, Australian UAV company SYPAQ Systems has been awarded the country’s 2023 tech innovation award, based in large part to the major benefits its cardboard-made drones have afforded Ukraine’s defensive efforts.

Though additional evidence wasn’t needed as confirmation, the nocturnal barrage of strikes on multiple areas inside Russia overnight Wednesday was another clear reminder of the extent to which Ukraine relies on military and adapted enterprise and consumer drones to successfully battle against Moscow’s invasion.

Producers of specialized drones or craft with effective tech adaptable to defense purposes may be in for a boost in activity under the Pentagon’s new “Replicator” initiative, which seeks to supplement the traditionally huge, multi-year US defense programs by creating an array of fast, responsive “attritable autonomous systems” – with an anticipated emphasis on quickly manufactured UAVs.

Ukraine will be getting reinforcements to its broadening patchwork of counter-drone assets with the delivery of Cortex Typhon systems from Norway’s Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, estimated to be worth around £56 million ($70 million).

Events this week in Ukraine have demonstrated the nation’s increasing commitment to small, quasi-consumer-grade first-person view drones (FPV) as vital assets in the nation’s battle to defeat invading Russian forces.

New moves unveiled by China threaten to further disrupt the already complicated business activities of global drone leader DJI in the US and elsewhere in the world, with Beijing saying it will impose new export restrictions on UAV technologies produced in the country.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) says it has delivered nine drones to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine to collect evidence of possible war crimes. As an independent agency of the US federal government, USAID has been pursuing accountability for war crimes and human rights abuse in Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country.

As Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive against invading Russian troops attempts to increase momentum, the country is again turning to the same drones that have allowed it to defy Moscow’s far bigger and better-equipped army for nearly 18 months.

The US Army will be receiving considerable reinforcements of tactical Black Hornet micro drones to its current fleet, under a nearly $94 million agreement Washington has signed with producer Teledyne FLIR Defense that also involves an undisclosed number of the tiny reconnaissance UAVs heading to Ukraine.

Researchers at a Russian technology organization supporting the nation’s war against Ukraine say they’ve developed an application allowing first-person view (FPV) drones to be hidden in ideal attack locations, then reactivated out of “sleeping” mode for strikes on nearby targets at appointed times.

Increased supplies of so-called suicide drones will be among the munitions included in the $1.3 billion US aid package to Ukraine announced Wednesday – aerial reinforcements that officials said will include both Switchblade and still enigmatic Phoenix Ghost loitering UAVs.

Drone hardware and systems producer Draganfly has continued its recent burst of development and production activity with a veritable change-up pitch, revealing it created a new digital display messaging UAV with partner Promo Drone as it pursued its intense work with North American police and fire services and medical and emergency response organizations in Ukraine.

The defense unit of California tech company Teledyne FLIR has followed up on the $48 million contract it signed last year with Norway by finalizing a new deal to provide the nation’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) with a veritable fleet of Black Hornet nano drones destined for Ukraine’s defense efforts.

Canadian drone and systems company Draganfly is continuing its energetic business development and scaling activities with the creation of a new production facility that will allow the firm to keep pace with rising demand – the second manufacturing expansion it has undertaken in less than five months.

Autel Robotics has issued a fresh statement explaining that military use is not the “original intention” of its product design. The development comes on the heels of Autel “lookalike” drones being discovered under the brand name Patriot at the recently concluded St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Russia.