War tech in Ukraine: Top 7 Ukrainian defense innovations

Ukraine changed the way people envision combat and understand warfare. Despite being outnumbered in troops and military equipment, Ukrainians were able to put their creativity and the ability to find practical solutions to use and protect their land and people from the Russian onslaught. Even though Western military aid was the leading contributor to helping Ukraine's armed forces repel the enemy, Ukrainian defense innovations have redefined combat techniques and strategies and made the Ukrainian army more successful.

With foreign investments, government funding, and donations from Ukrainian civilians and the international community, Ukraine became a "Silicon Valley" for the latest war technologies. Rubryka presents the top 7 Ukrainian defense innovations you need to know.

Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine has been dubbed the "war of drones" since 2022 when both sides began extensively using uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) for operations. For the Ukrainian armed forces, aerial drones have been instrumental in identifying and targeting enemy positions and weapons. One is the SHARK Unmanned Aerial System (UAS), a multifunctional reconnaissance complex valued at $325,000, which has already helped destroy $40 million worth of Russian military equipment.

Designed and produced by the Ukrainian software company Ukrspecsystems in 2022, the SHARK underwent flight tests within six months of development and was swiftly deployed to the front lines. The SHARK UAS, which goes in the package with a ground control station, catapult launcher, power generator, and other equipment, has several advanced features:

• Endurance: Up to 4 hours of flight time
• Long range: Covers routes up to 300 km
• Communication: Maintains control over 80 km
• High altitude: Operates effectively at up to 3,000 meters
• Precise imaging: Advanced camera with 30x optical zoom
• Electronic warfare (EW): Resists jamming attacks
• Low noise visibility

Ukrainian soldiers have effectively used this latest Ukrainian drone technology to collect intel and target Russian forces deep behind enemy lines, including in tandem with long-range artillery, HIMARS systems, and aviation deploying American JDAM-guided bombs.

Ukrainians have also been using robotics, like ground drones, in combat following Russia's full-scale invasion. Ukrainian tech company SkyLab Defense Robotics was one of the pioneers who started developing advanced unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) to support the defense capabilities of the Ukrainian army. Their Sirko-S1 ground robot has already been deployed on the front line to perform various tasks after six months of development.

Valued at $8,000-$10,000, the Sirko-S1 UGV can transport ammunition, food, medications, and other military equipment, evacuate the wounded, and perform surveillance, reducing the life risks for soldiers and medics. These key characteristics allow versatility and effectiveness on different terrains:

• Operates at up to 3 km, which can be extended to 10 km with a repeater
• Reinforced by a thermal imager, laser rangefinder, and high-resolution camera
• Can be used as a platform to quickly install demining equipment or a weapon
• Ensures a jam-resistant control
• Designed to withstand harsh environments

The Skylab was supported by the government defense program Brave1, which funds engineers to develop Ukrainian war technologies. In 2024, the Ukrainian army reportedly strengthened some of its units with Sirko-S1 UGVs on the eastern front, where soldiers had already used the ground robot to down a Russian spy drone on the front line.

Ukrainians not only use advanced tech to repel the Russian forces and save wounded soldiers on the battlefield but also detect and neutralize Russian threats on the Ukrainian territory far from the front line. Although Ukraine's partners have supplied many air defense systems to protect Ukrainian civilians and critical infrastructure from air strikes, the issue of early detection of air threats, like missiles and drones, remained, giving a boost to more Ukrainian defense innovations.

Enter the ZVOOK ("sound" in Ukrainian), a decentralized network of audio sensors and a machine-trained system that uses acoustics and AI to help Ukrainian air defense forces locate and down Russian air threats. The ZVOOK detection system is trained on a database of noises from cars, trucks, insects, animals, human voices, and Russian missiles and aircraft. Each station is equipped with acoustic mirrors and microphones to record incoming sounds. They are analyzed to identify cruise missiles, drones, enemy air force helicopters, and jet fighters at lower altitudes and estimate their speed, direction, and danger. 

Inspired by 20th-century acoustic detection systems and modernized by digital automation, the ZVOOK system was developed by engineers, soldiers, and data analysts of Ukrainian startups i3 Engineering, Label Your Data, and Respeecher, which is famous for its voice simulations of Star Wars characters. Ukraine's network of 10,000 acoustic sensors, developed by ZVOOK and other companies, particularly Sky Fortress, improved the work of air defense forces and was praised by NATO.

Find out about Respeecher and other successful Ukrainian startups here.

Secure communication remains critical for leading combat and coordinating operations between Ukrainian military units along the front line. It is often guaranteed by advanced encrypted radios, which, though effective, are usually too costly and cumbersome for widespread deployment. To supply Ukrainian soldiers with sufficient, secure, and mobile communication devices that are also affordable and user-friendly, Ukrainian defense tech company Himera developed the namesake encrypted walkie-talkies with the support of the Brave1 gov program.

The HIMERA G1 jam-resistant radio handsets use 256-bit encryption and frequency-hopping technology to resist electronic warfare and Bluetooth connectivity for easy configuration and messaging. The radios can operate through mesh networks to extend their range and are compatible with drones to overcome rugged terrain. Each walkie-talkie has a four-day operational battery life and GPS capabilities, which can be used to track a wounded soldier for evacuation. 

Since its launch in February 2022, Himera has produced around 600 units, which proved effective against Russian electronic warfare. In late 2023, the defense company planned to increase production to 2,000-3,000 units monthly by 2024, with a potential scale of 10,000 devices. The Himera startup, which attracted $525,000 in investments and donations for their project, also aims to release a new G1 Pro model.

Since the start of the full-scale war, Ukraine has been on a mission to weaken Russia's arms and fuel production and strike military facilities deep into the Russian territory used for mass air attacks on Ukrainian cities. Long-range drones, particularly the UJ-26 Beaver, became a key asset for the Ukrainian army to achieve those goals. The country invested in the latest Ukrainian drone technology and increased drone production a hundredfold in 2023. 

The UJ-26 Beaver is a long-range "kamikaze" drone Ukraine has successfully deployed to target Russian oil refineries, arms storage facilities, and Russian military airbases. For instance, the Ukrainian defense innovation was used in a recent attack on the Olenya airbase in Russia launched from over 1,800 kilometers away. 

Produced by the Ukrainian drone producer UkrJet, the Beaver has a unique canard aerodynamic design with smaller front wings, enabling it to change altitude and evade air defenses. Each drone costs over $100,000, has a wingspan of 2.5 meters, speeds of 150 to 200 km/h, and a range of 800 to 1,000 km (maybe more), with a 20 kg warhead.

The Come Back Alive charity foundation, which supplied Beaver drones to the Ukrainian defense intelligence forces as part of the Black Box $6 million fundraising campaign in 2022, unveiled that the procured munitions caused over $900 million in damage to Russian forces within the first eight months of 2023.

When Russia occupied the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, capturing Ukrainian warships, Ukraine lost over 80% of its naval capabilities. So how could Ukraine — a country with no navy — sink about one-third of Russia's Black Sea Fleet and push the rest to withdraw from Crimean ports? The answer is tactical naval drones. At a fraction of the price of a battleship, maritime drones could destroy expensive Russian targets and revolutionize warfare in the sea.

One of the most impressive models in Ukraine's arsenal is the Sea Baby multipurpose unmanned surface vehicle (USV), which became famous after damaging a series of Russian ships: frigates Admiral Makarov and Admiral Essen, the minesweeper Ivan Golubets, and the patrol ship Ladny. It also made headlines when two such maritime drones significantly damaged Putin's illegal brainchild, the Crimean Bridge, on July 17, 2023. Following this attack, Ukraine's special forces used Sea Baby to strike a Russian corvette Samum, patrol ship Pavel Derzhavin, and reconnaissance ship Vladimir Kozitsky. All operations ended in severe losses for the Russian fleet.

Produced by Ukraine's Security Service, Sea Baby USVs are small, fast, and maneuverable. They are also satellite-controlled and equipped with integrated explosives, real-time cameras, and infrared vision. The vessel's hull material makes Sea Baby undetectable by Russian radars. For $221,000, a Sea Baby naval drone can:

• Travel at a max speed of 90 km/h
• Cover up to 1000 km
• Operate for 60 hours
• Carry warheads up to 850 kg
• Develop 400 horsepower engine capacity

In 2024, it was revealed that Sea Baby drones can now be equipped with missile launchers and laser guidance systems. In February this year, the UNITED24 platform, monobank, and Ukrainian bloggers launched a fundraiser for 35 maritime drones for a special unit of the Security Service.

Another affordable Ukrainian defense innovation that can work as an alternative to advanced and expensive jamming systems is anti-drone guns. These rifles emit electromagnetic pulses to block drone communication signals, forcing UAVs to fall, return to base, or make an emergency landing. While many of Ukraine's allies provided the Ukrainian army with such devices, engineers from the company DroneUA decided to develop a homemade anti-drone rifle at a lower cost.

Their RG-7 anti-drone gun is a powerful portable signal jammer designed to disrupt drones at frequencies in the 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz ranges. It effectively jams Russia's most commonly used drones against Ukrainian forces, including commercial UAVs equipped with munitions release systems. Developed by Ukrainian and American engineers, the RG-7 can jam enemy drones at distances of up to 1.5 km. It is lightweight, weighing only 4.5 kg, and has a 30-60-minute battery life.

The gun is available in different configurations and costs $12,000. The core electronic boards are produced in the US, while the main body is assembled in Ukraine by DroneUA, which manages product development and distribution. In 2023, DroneUA leader Valerii Yakovenko said 30 RG-7 rifles were in use in Ukraine, with an additional 20 to be supplied to soldiers.