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