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Euronews
08-07-2025
- Business
- Euronews
Is the EU doing enough to integrate Ukrainian defence tech?
Just before launching its EU presidency last week, Denmark inked a €67 million agreement with Ukraine to let their defence companies build their designs on Danish soil - the first of its kind. 'This is a major contribution to Ukraine's fight for freedom, as well as to the Danish and European armament,' Morten Bødskov, Denmark's minister of industry, business and financial affairs, said in a press release last month. This first deal between Ukraine and Denmark will 'ensure a higher degree of integration' for Ukraine in Europe's wider rearmament, the statement continued. The agreement comes a month after Ukraine launched an international joint weapons production programme with its allied countries to build 'licensed production lines for Ukrainian weapons in partner countries'. But do these recent efforts go far enough? How are European countries building Ukrainian tech? There are already several projects in play between Ukraine and private industry in Europe, such as the UK's production of the Raybird surveillance drone, a 'flexible fixed-wing' 20-kilogram drone that can be deployed in under 25 minutes and can fly for roughly 28 hours over a 2,500-kilometre range. A French auto manufacturer will produce first-person view (FPV) drones in Ukraine, with France's armed forces minister Sebastien Lecornu calling it a 'win-win partnership' in French media. Le Monde reported that automaker Renault was approached for this work. Sweden's SAAB, Norway's Kongsberg, French-German KNDS, Germany's Rheinmetall, and the US's Raytheon are reportedly expanding their presence on the ground, according to a June press release from Ukraine's ministry of defence. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that his country struck more deals with European allies and a leading US defence company to 'step up drone production'. Zelenskyy didn't name the businesses in his address. Euronews Next has followed up with the Ukrainian government to find out more about the deals that have been signed but did not receive a reply at the time of publication. Ukraine is also working on draft legislation for joint weapons production with allies that should be put to a vote in their parliament later this month, according to Rustem Umerov, Ukraine's defence minister. The programme includes plans to create a special legal and tax framework to help Ukrainian defence manufacturers scale up and modernise production, including building new facilities at home and abroad, Umerov said. 'We are not included in the common planning' These projects are a promising first step but Ukraine is still not included in the 'common planning' that the European Union is doing regarding its rearmament, said Olena Bilousova, senior research lead of military at the Kyiv School of Economics. She added that American-made M982 Excalibur shells dropped in efficiency to reach their targets from 70 per cent to six per cent as Russia continues to advance its electronic warfare (EW). This is a form of artillery that the EU has sent to Ukraine in the past. 'There are a lot of cases like that when we understand that the weapons which were common and still common in procurement of the EU should be reviewed [or] at least … modernised,' she told Euronews Next. Ukraine's reliance on drones as a 'cheap solution' in its offensives against Russia is also misunderstood by Ukraine's allies, Bilousova added, noting that the country should be able to build drone procurement strategies with its partners. It doesn't mean that Europe should be focused only on procuring drones, Bilousova continued, but that Ukraine should develop with them 'new strategies around conventional weapons,' including how many are needed and how they can be protected against drones. Bilousova said Ukraine could also teach Europe how to speed up the development of new battle-tested technologies based on their model. Ukraine uses the 'Danish model' of military procurement to develop a new technology from idea to product testing on the battlefield, which takes anywhere from three to six months, compared to traditional weapons procurement, which usually takes up to 18 months. Ukraine can do this through earmarking an estimated $30.8 billion (€29.4 billion) in 2023 for the war effort, a level that is 20 times higher than the pre-2022 invasion level, a recent report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found. Crowdfunding through platforms such as United24 has also raised over $1 billion (€950 million) and distributed approximately $930 million (€884.61 million) of that to the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the last three years. Both pots of money are then redistributed to Brave1, a 'united coordinational platform' that provides more than 470 grants worth an estimated 1.3 billion hryvnias (€29 million). Pan-European approach to Ukraine defence tech 'unlikely' Bilousova said it's not clear what forum would be the best to bring in Ukraine as a 'consultant' for rearmament. But a pan-European initiative to get Ukraine fully integrated into rearmament might not be possible because time is 'of the essence,' said Jacob Kirkegaard, senior fellow with the Bruegel think tank. 'The vast majority of this integration will happen at the bilateral level and will be driven by Ukraine's desperate need for more weapons and the willingness by many member states … to provide the money,' he told Euronews Next. 'That is not, unfortunately, a capability that the EU has as a whole'. However, it doesn't stop the Commission from identifying 'target projects' that would be of shared interest with Ukraine, such as developing advanced air defence, drone surveillance for subsea internet cables or cybersecurity, Kirkegaard continued. The EU has already activated a €150 billion "SAFE" loan instrument that lets states borrow money for joint defence projects. At least 65 per cent of the weapons' components have to be sourced from within the EU or Ukraine. It's also launched a joint EU-Ukraine task force to integrate Ukraine into the 'defence-tech ecosystem'. However, Bilousova said that if the Commission doesn't step back and create a longer-term plan, the weapons it invests in could be 'ineffective' and delayed for the next conflict. 'I think it is always a good time to make a strategy even if war is already in place,' she said.
Business Insider
02-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
The West's drone tech risks becoming irrelevant if it's not tested daily on the Ukrainian battlefield, defense exec says
The dizzying pace of drone development is now part and parcel of the war in Ukraine, where the fastest-moving companies are battle-testing their products in real-world combat. Increasingly, Western militaries understand that their drone tech will be functionally obsolete unless the technology they import or develop is field-tested in conflicts like Ukraine. "If your system is not in day-to-day use on the frontline of Ukraine, it becomes very quickly out of date," Justin Hedges, a former Royal Marine and cofounder of military intelligence company Prevail, told Business Insider. Prevail has partnered with Ukrainian drone company Skyeton to bring Raybird, a small surveillance and targeting drone, to production in the UK. It's being done with a shrewd eye on the British Army's plans to replace its troubled Watchkeeper drone program with an uncrewed surveillance and targeting capability more suited to the scenarios playing out in Ukraine. More broadly, a recent data and drone tech-sharing agreement made between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the UK's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that Ukrainian insight is to be "plugged into UK production lines." It chimes with a drive across the West to see the Ukrainian battlefield as a live laboratory — out of necessity for the country's defense, but increasingly, as a crucial way for smaller companies to develop systems and services that have a technological edge. The UK armed forces minister Luke Pollard underscored the point at a drone conference in Latvia in late May, saying, "If you are a drone company and you do not have your kit on the frontline in Ukraine, you might as well give up." Raybird, Skyeton's drone, has a combined 350,000 hours of flight time on Ukraine's front line, in use "from the Black Sea to Kharkiv," Skyeton's founder Alex Stepura told BI. Per Stepura, Raybird can fly more than 28 continuous hours and uses an array of sensors — including optical, electromagnetic, and various radar capabilities — to collect data from "far behind" the front line, sometimes from more than 125 miles away. Many of its sensors can be swapped out in a minute, enabling forces to react quickly. Ukraine's Ministry of Defence has hailed the drone as being capable of tasks normally reserved for much larger models. Its size — just 25kg, or 55 pounds — gives an added advantage: it's "relatively stealthy," Hedges said. Small, advanced drones are crucial to spotting enemy movements and high-value targets like vehicles and air defenses. In response, Russia has deployed an ever-evolving array of electronic warfare tactics that aim to scramble signals, spoof GPS positions, or overwhelm radio frequencies. Hedges said that Skyeton's engineers are continually adapting to these tactics. "The proof is in the data," he added, saying that Ukrainian forces are getting more than 80 missions out of each drone before they're lost. In contrast to the cumbersome procurement processes of major companies, the Ukrainian drone industry is peppered with small, fast-moving producers who iterate quickly and often interact directly with forces on the ground. Milrem Robotics, an Estonian company, is creating autonomous ground robots that are being regularly battle-tested in Ukraine. Its CEO, Kuldar Väärsi, told BI that the conditions in Ukraine are "totally different" to those found in peacetime exercises. Milrem's THeMIS robot had been designed to be simple to operate, but after a stint in Ukraine, the company's engineers realized they needed it to be even simpler, Väärsi said. Kit might be designed for use by soldiers trained on how to use it, he added, but in actual war, "anybody who needs that equipment will use it."
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ukrainian company Skyeton to manufacture Raybird drones in EU
Skyeton, a Ukrainian manufacturer of unmanned aerial systems, has demonstrated the production of Raybird drones in the European Union. Source: Defender media Details: The company's press release states that the drones are already being delivered to customers in partner countries. Production is organised at a plant in Slovakia owned by the Tropozond company, which is part of the Skyeton Group. The company conducted a short video tour of its new production facilities, demonstrating the process of creating drones. Skyeton is known for its unmanned aerial systems (UAS), in particular the Raybird-3 system, which is one of its key developments. Raybird-3 is a modern unmanned system designed for reconnaissance missions and search and rescue operations. It has two modifications: civilian and military ACS-3. The military version is equipped with protection against electronic warfare and is capable of flying in automatic mode. The drone can stay in the air for over 24 hours, covering 2,000 km, and the operator can control it from a distance of up to 240 km. Background: Recently, the company announced a strategic partnership with Danish company Quadsat, which specialises in radio frequency research. Together, they will develop an aviation radio-electronic reconnaissance complex based on a special Danish-made QS RF Locator suspension module and the Ukrainian ACS-3 Raybird UAV. Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
BBC News
26-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
At secret test-flight facility, Ukraine's drone makers fear Russia ceasefire won't hold
At a secret location away from prying eyes, Ukrainian engineers test a long-range drone called Raybird. The machine, which looks like a mini plane with wings, is placed on a launchpad, stretched like an arrow on a crossbow and then shot into the can fly non-stop for more than 20 hours and cover a distance of more than 1,000km (620 miles). It carries out missions to destroy targets both on the frontline and deep inside their targets are oil refineries and fuel depots. But after Russia and Ukraine reached separate agreements with the US on a partial ceasefire, missions like these should well as agreeing to a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea following talks this week in Saudi Arabia, the two countries committed to stop attacking each other's energy infrastructure – something that had theoretically already been President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine would implement these agreements immediately. However, Oleksiy from Skyeton, the company that develops the Raybird, doubts that Moscow would adhere to the ceasefire."[Russians punch you in the face, then the next day they make an agreement but ask to tie up your hands. So the possibility that they will continue fighting remains," explains this deal will also bring relief to estimated that this year alone, Ukraine carried out more than 30 attacks on Russia's oil infrastructure using drones and other weapons. They've recently hit some of the country's largest oil facilities, like the Ufa oil refinery about 1,500km (932 miles) from the front line and Tuapse plant in Krasnodar oil refining capacity has dropped by about 10% as a result of drone attacks, according to Moscow's recent decision to extend the ban on petroleum exports shows that they're feeling the arsenal to carry out deep strikes is only growing. President Zelensky recently announced that Ukrainian engineers have designed a drone that has a range of 3,000 km (1,860 miles). That means it could reach not only Moscow, but even locations in Siberia. Kyiv also claims that it has developed turbojet powered "missile-drones". They fly at a much higher speed and so are harder to said Ukraine has successfully tested its first domestically made ballistic weapon and upgraded its cruise missile Neptune to hit ground as well naval targets. This missile was reportedly used to attack the Russian air base in the southern city of Engels last week, although Ukrainian officials neither confirm nor deny these energy ceasefire deal is certainly good news for Ukraine too. Russia has been relentlessly targeting its power plants and stations across the country. At one point last year, Ukraine's energy generation capacity dropped to a third of its pre-war month, when temperatures dropped below zero, Russian drones hit a thermal power plant in Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine. A few days later, another massive aerial attack left more than 250,000 residents of Odesa without power and lately, there has been a growing number of attacks on Ukraine's gas infrastructure. Among regular targets are underground gas storage facilities in western Ukraine and production facilities in the central and eastern parts of the country. Moscow's aim is to reduce gas production in Ukraine, which is key to the country's energy security, says Artem Petrenko, executive director of the Association of Gas Producers of the end of March, Gas storage facilities in Ukraine were only around 4% full, according to one monitoring if Russia continues its strikes, filling up those storage facilities will be extremely challenging, potentially leading to massive problems next at the testing ground, after several laps, the Raybird opens its parachutes and successfully lands in the field. Oleksiy is satisfied with the results. He says that although it's good to have a ceasefire, they still cannot afford to pause their work and the development of new weapons."Our enemy just wants to have a break, gather its strength and attack again," he says. "We must be ready for that."
