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00:00For the first time ever, weapons and warfare has gone international.
00:04We're on the ground in Ukraine as some of the biggest names in defense are here to help
00:09the cause.
00:10We go inside the second ever Defense Tech Valley.
00:14It's quickly becoming one of Europe's flagship defense technology investment summits.
00:24Hello and welcome to Weapons and Warfare, where our goal is to give you the information
00:29you need to have an informed conversation about the military and national defense with
00:33your friends, co-workers, significant others, really anybody.
00:37For Straight Arrow News, I'm your host, Ryan Robertson.
00:39And as you can tell, we're not in the studio, we're out on the road — actually, on the
00:43other side of the Atlantic in Lviv, Ukraine.
00:46We're here to cover Brave One's Defense Tech Valley 2025 summit and exposition.
00:51For those who don't know, Brave One is an initiative by the Ukrainian government created
00:56to speed up the growth and use of cutting-edge defensive technologies.
01:01Think of it as a hub that brings together innovators, the military, and investors.
01:06And that's why it's the subject of this week's Debrief.
01:08All right, folks.
01:12I'm joined now by Artem Oroz, the head of Investor Relations for Brave One.
01:16Artem, thank you so much for joining us today.
01:17Yes, thank you for coming.
01:18So talk to me about this show.
01:20It's designed to get European-American investment into Ukrainian defense products.
01:25Exactly.
01:26So last year, we had our first edition.
01:28We had people from around 30 countries, more than 1,500 people, and we saw a huge success
01:33of it.
01:34And the idea is exactly — we want to have more investors from Europe, from the United States,
01:38from other parts of the world to invest in Ukrainian technologies to build together
01:41with Ukraine those technologies that are able to protect Ukraine and also the allies.
01:45This year, we are doing the second edition.
01:47And it's actually, according to our knowledge, should be the biggest investment summit focused
01:51on defense tech in the world.
01:52We do have representatives of more than 50 countries.
01:54We do have thousands of people coming from the river side, from the company side, from
01:58startups to scale-ups.
02:00So a huge range of different opportunities.
02:02Let's talk about that huge range of defensive contractors.
02:04I see a lot of UAVs, a lot of UGVs.
02:08There's some drone interceptors.
02:10Is there anything in particular that you're wanting more investment into?
02:13Any kind of technology that Brave One really wants to see some investment?
02:16So for us, we don't focus on legacy solutions.
02:19We believe that our core value and strength is in technology.
02:23So we want to focus on new generation defense, let's say.
02:26We work a lot with unmanned systems on all domains from air, ground, water, and underwater.
02:32We also focus a lot on artificial intelligence because our idea is that we want to move people
02:36away from the front line.
02:37We want to save their lives.
02:38And in order to make that, you need to make equipment smarter.
02:41And artificial intelligence is coming there.
02:43Also, electronic warfare systems and signal intelligence, that is actually another point
02:48that's critical, like fundamental, plus the communication systems to connect all the different
02:53platforms that operate now on the front line.
02:56Earlier today, there was a press conference.
02:58There were several investment agreements that were announced.
03:02Can you kind of walk through some of those that have come out during the show?
03:05Yeah, absolutely.
03:06So we are trying to be this bridge as Brave One to connect these private investors with
03:09Ukrainian defense ecosystem because it's still quite close.
03:12And a lot of investors, especially international, they don't understand how do they get in.
03:16So what we do?
03:17We signed today agreements for more than $100 million of the investment into Ukrainian companies,
03:22in startups, in scale-ups, all the different kinds, from funds from Europe, also from the
03:27U.S.
03:28And also today, there was the biggest investment round on Ukrainian defense tech announced.
03:33Actually a company working on the swarming technology for drones, letting one operator control
03:39multiple jobs and advances.
03:40They raised, as a serious say, $16 million round from U.S. investors.
03:44What does success look like for this conference, right?
03:47$100 million, right?
03:48That's the biggest investment in defense tech that you mentioned.
03:53But I imagine that's not going to be where you want to stop, right?
03:56I mean, Russia has more than $100 million worth of weapons.
03:59So where do you gauge success?
04:01So we definitely don't manage success in terms of investment amounts because the impact that
04:05we want to create is on the battlefield.
04:07Those investments are extra resources that companies should have, in addition to grants
04:11that we give as a great one, in addition to contracts.
04:13But we need to do as much as we can to get resources from all the places to invest them
04:18into the technologies, keep the technologies cutting edge, keep them always one step ahead
04:23of Russians.
04:24And then, at some point, we believe this technology will have global potential and those companies
04:29can become unicorns together with our partners.
04:31I want to pick up on that point, the global potential of so much of this tech, because,
04:36you know, American defense contractors, there was folks in the Department of War who just
04:40said, Ukraine is way ahead of us on drone technology.
04:44Talk about the role that Ukraine is playing to be the springboard of all kinds of defense
04:49technology for the future.
04:50Actually, that's a good point, because I just had a conversation with one US startup
04:54who will be pitching tomorrow at our event.
04:56They are doing visual navigation for drones, so essentially letting drones operate in GNSS-denied
05:01environment.
05:02And they were looking for the platform where they would put this, like, module to let drones
05:06fly.
05:07In the US, they couldn't find a platform that is fitting them particularly.
05:09Here, they found it in two hours.
05:11That is, like, about the variety, about the ecosystem, about getting it more mature.
05:15What else do we need to know about Brave One before I let you go?
05:17So, Brave One, we actually, today, united in more than 2,000 companies.
05:21Just to understand the scale of this ecosystem, we have been the biggest governmental investor
05:26in the companies, providing the grants and giving us the first boost, and also decreasing
05:30the risk for investors that are coming today, because we, as a government, have already invested
05:34in those companies.
05:35We help them move away from the prototype or idea to something that is already working
05:40in the front line.
05:41So, we invite investors from all the parts of the globe to come, to see the technologies,
05:45to know that they have been working, indeed, not on, like, decks or not on the pictures,
05:50but really on the front line.
05:51Invest in them and become part of this, like, success story, both, like, from moral perspective,
05:56because we all want to protect democracies, but also commercially.
05:59These companies will become big, and it will become important globally.
06:02Absolutely.
06:03Thank you so much for joining us today.
06:05Appreciate it.
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06:39One of the main areas of investment that Ukraine is looking to get into is unmanned ground
06:43vehicles.
06:44And here to talk a little bit more about that is Anatoly Nikitin with VTag Unmanned Ground
06:48Vehicles.
06:49Thank you so much for joining us today.
06:50Thank you very much, Ryan, to take interest from this.
06:53Yes, yes.
06:54We are producing and designing the new step of the Unmanned Ground Vehicle, the heavy Unmanned
07:02Ground Vehicle in Ukraine, because as you can see here in the exhibition, everybody
07:06will focus on the smaller ones.
07:08But our main idea was to create the vehicle who can easily replace on the battlefield the
07:16human operated APCs and the human operated transportation devices, because the human is quite more vulnerable
07:29than the iron.
07:31So, we provide the platform.
07:33They should actually model and quite unique one, because we can easily install it because
07:38of their...
07:40Some of them, some of our competition said that it's too big to be heated, but it's also quite
07:48armored itself, and it's also modular and quite flexible.
07:53You can easily place the assault model in there, or maybe the defensive one.
07:59But we are focusing on what we are not showing in this, because it's for exhibition.
08:03Everybody excited about the big guns like in Texas, but we are more focusing on the logistic
08:10purposes, because the logistic now is the crucial one, is the crucial part.
08:14I am retired from the 3rd Assault Brigade, and in January, I was on the battlefield and provided
08:21all the military stuff.
08:23So, for now, we are like payload capacity of the two tons, which are easily moving by the
08:30speed of the 47 kilometers per hour off-road.
08:34And that's the main reason, like, we are trying to reduce the human losses on the battlefield.
08:42So, we are focusing on this big guy.
08:47So, it actually looks like more a rhino, or a buffalo.
08:51Where is it manufactured?
08:52We manufacture here, luckily, in Ukraine.
08:55So, it's totally Ukrainian, but we are also, like, foreseeing the next step is to have the
09:00production somewhere abroad, because the export is restricted for now, because of the war production.
09:05But we understand that we can also be interested for guys in USA, also, because we are much
09:12cheaper than them.
09:14All right.
09:15Thank you so much for joining us today.
09:16I really appreciate it.
09:17Thank you very much.
09:18All right, folks, for Comps Check this week, we're checking in with friends of the show,
09:23Shield AI, and some new products that I just learned about.
09:27Here to talk a little bit more about that is James with Shield AI.
09:29James, thanks so much for joining us.
09:31Hey, thank you very much.
09:32Yeah, it's great to be here and great to speak to you.
09:35Absolutely.
09:36So, we have this new UAV, fixed-wing UAV, right here.
09:40Talk to me about it.
09:41Yeah, we're super excited.
09:42This is the first time that we're bringing Hivemind into Ukraine.
09:46So, we've had a lot of success with Hivemind onboard VBAT, but this is the first time that
09:51we're putting it onto a strike platform.
09:53So, this will be called D4.
09:55Okay, it's got about an 80 to 100 kilometer range, 3.5 kilogram payload, and it uses visual-based
10:03navigation, and pixel-lock for terminal guidance.
10:06And essentially, the way that it will work is it will work in tandem with ISR platforms.
10:10Initially, it will work with VBAT, so VBAT will pass targeting data imagery to the platform,
10:15and then the platform will use that to conduct autonomous strike missions.
10:19So, we're super excited about this, already started integration, and we are looking to
10:24go live operationally in October.
10:27You said it's Hivemind enabled, so obviously it's going to have the same kind of brain power
10:32as your VBAT, but the launch is going to be different.
10:35I see a catapult sticker on the back, so obviously I am going to assume that means it's a catapult
10:41launch.
10:42Yeah, just to be clear, a lot of the software onboard this is via IronBelly.
10:47They're a fantastic company, and actually Hivemind is complementary to what they've already
10:53developed, and what is already a very impressive capability.
10:56But it is a catapult launched, it's not a VTOL, it's a one-way attack, like loitering munitions.
11:02Okay, so very different, super exciting, different type of technology that we're working on.
11:07And this is an iterative process, right?
11:09We're not done now.
11:10We will continue to refine new features as our engineers continue to work together over the
11:15coming months in what is a target-rich and data-rich environment.
11:18So we're really excited about what we can do, and really the roadmap we're looking at for
11:24this is teaming to reduce that cognitive load on the operator.
11:28We're looking at three to five of these, okay?
11:30And that's on our roadmap and something that we're going to be working really hard over
11:33the coming months to develop.
11:35All right.
11:36I can't let you go without talking about VBAT, right?
11:38I mean, it's your bread and butter.
11:39So talk to me about, you said it's the first time you've brought Hivemind to Ukraine.
11:43Are we looking to kind of field these things here in Ukraine as well?
11:47To be clear, these are already fielded in Ukraine.
11:50We already have five partner forces across Ukraine, and they're active on operations all
11:55over Ukraine right now.
11:56And they're all powered by our Hivemind autonomy stack, our AI pilot, which essentially sits
12:01above the communication architecture, the INS, and all the data on board that and fuses
12:07it and gives us a position, allows us to operate without GPS.
12:10And that operating without GPS and denied environments is so vital to the mission success.
12:17How does it work?
12:18I mean, how do you operate without GPS?
12:21You said vision tracking on the camera.
12:23I assume it's kind of the same sort of thing.
12:24No, so VBAT is fully operational, as I mentioned.
12:27Okay.
12:28So every single flight, and we've done over 200 so far, over 35 combat missions, none of
12:33those have had GPS.
12:35It's always disabled right from the start.
12:37And so as I mentioned before, that's a combination of the communication architecture and the radio
12:41on board.
12:42But then with our Hivemind sat above that, okay, it then uses the INS and other data on
12:47board from the payload, wind speed, bearing, puts that all together, fuses it, and then
12:52provides you an accurate grid of where the aircraft is.
12:56It's not as accurate as GPS, but it is certainly accurate enough to operate here and it's accurate
13:01enough to target off, which we've done very effectively here in Ukraine.
13:04You bet.
13:05Might not be as accurate as GPS, but if there is no GPS, then it is more accurate than GPS,
13:09right?
13:10Absolutely.
13:11And just to be clear, GPS does not work here.
13:13So anyone that's flying here, it needs to be disabled as soon as you fly.
13:17Every single mission we've flown here has had zero GPS.
13:21All right.
13:22James, thanks so much for joining us today.
13:23Really appreciate it.
13:24Thank you very much for your time.
13:28All opinions expressed in this segment are solely the opinions of the contributors.
13:32All right, folks, that's going to do it for us this week on Weapons and Warfare.
13:35But before we say our final goodbyes, I want to bring in senior producer Brett Baker for
13:39some final thoughts on the show.
13:41You know, Brett, one of the main things that you just really can't miss is just the sheer
13:45number of drones here of all different types.
13:48It's kind of like going to Lollapalooza of drones.
13:52You want wing drones?
13:53We got them.
13:54You want quad captors?
13:55We got them.
13:56You want tiny drones?
13:57We got them.
13:58You want a drone as big as a smart car?
14:01They got them.
14:02It's kind of, it's definitely wild to see the assortment.
14:06I think the one thing that all of these guys have kind of going against each other is that
14:10they are like a band trying to make that breakthrough.
14:13Right.
14:14And trying to get that sale and be the one that gets picked up and goes on to be a partner
14:18with any of these countries.
14:21Yeah, it is a cornucopia of drones here, to be sure.
14:25You can find one, I am sure, that will do whatever you want it to do.
14:29Right, right.
14:30And something you just kind of mentioned there, another main topic, is just all the foreign
14:34investment that's been announced and taking place.
14:37Tens of millions of dollars from the European Union where, you know, investments were announced
14:42this week.
14:43And it's because they want to, you know, help Ukraine defend against the illegal invasion
14:48from Russia, but also they want to learn from Ukraine.
14:51Ukraine is kind of at the forefront of so much technology right now and so many advancements
14:56in battlefield tech.
14:58The rest of the world kind of needs to learn those lessons.
15:01And I think they understand too that an investment in Ukraine right now is also an investment
15:06in your defense for the future.
15:08Because they're going to be developing weapons and practices and standards here that are going
15:13to be used for years to come.
15:15And if you're not on board with that, if you're not helping facilitate that, what are
15:19you doing?
15:20Right.
15:21So I think the investment aspect of all of this is unique and very important.
15:26Yeah, we heard several times on the talks, if you're not testing in Ukraine, what are
15:30you doing?
15:31Right?
15:32If you're not, if you don't have your weapons systems functioning in Ukraine right now, then
15:36you don't really know if they're going to work when the crap hits the fan.
15:41All right.
15:42All right.
15:43I'm going to steal the last one, Ryan.
15:44Okay.
15:45You had a pretty cool moment yesterday.
15:47I think it's a cool moment, not only for our show, but for Straight Arrow News.
15:51You were asked to moderate a panel on Test Ukraine, a story that you've written on before.
15:56Joining us to moderate the conversation is Ryan Robertson, a reporter and anchor for Straight
16:03Arrow News, who has covered this initiative before.
16:06What was that experience like?
16:08It was incredible.
16:10You're on stage with some of the top decision makers from Ukraine.
16:14You're on the stage with a Ukrainian defender who is testing a lot of these new, you know,
16:20prototype vehicles and prototype weapons.
16:23You know, it just kind of gave me a little bit different perspective, I guess.
16:27But it's also great for the show.
16:29And it's great that they wanted me to do it because of our reporting.
16:34You know, just kind of a little feather in the cap.
16:36Well, I was proud of you, watching you up there.
16:38You did a great job and represented all of us in style, for sure.
16:43Well, that's what I'm trying to do, Brett. Represent all of us in style.
16:46So, alright folks, that's going to just about do it for us this week on Weapons and Warfare.
16:51As always, if you like what you saw and or heard, please like and subscribe to our social media feeds and download the Straight Arrow News app today.
16:59As for what's next, after we leave Lviv, we are hopping on a jet going straight to DC for the AFA's Airspace and Cyber Conference.
17:07So, when I say we have a lot of content coming your way, folks, trust me, it's true.
17:12Download the app today so you can stay up to date with all of the latest.
17:15In the meantime, for senior producer Brett Baker, video editor Brian Spencer, graphics artist Dakota Patio, and photographer Sam Beattie,
17:24I'm Ryan Robertson with Straight Arrow News, signing off.