- 18 hours ago
The world can't keep up with the pace of military tech innovation in Ukraine, triggering a global rethink of how wars are fought. We were given rare access to units already fighting the war of the future — with high-speed interceptor drones, semi-autonomous sea robots, uncrewed ground robots, and bomber drones using AI to swarm the enemy. Ukraine is fighting the war of the future, today.
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00:01Ukraine is building an army without people.
00:05And it's armed to the teeth.
00:08And on a trip across the country, we were given a rare glimpse of what that future looks like.
00:13OK, that's recording now.
00:22We were shown robots that can launch drones
00:28and evacuate the wounded.
00:31We haven't enough humans in Ukraine like Russia,
00:34and UGV could save our lives, soldiers' lives.
00:40Since 2022, many Western countries have been using Ukraine as a laboratory
00:45to field test their very latest weapons systems.
00:48But what we found on this trip is that Ukraine is producing its own home-made technology
00:54which is capable of completely changing the shape of this conflict.
01:01We saw drones guided by Starlink and artificial intelligence,
01:05and remote-controlled speedboats hunting Russian targets far out to sea.
01:11I think that was so easy because that looked like a computer game.
01:16If you thought the conflict so far had triggered unprecedented innovation,
01:20what we've seen here is that in this war there is no such thing as standing still.
01:26Everything is evolving faster, being produced more cheaply,
01:29and flying and driving further than ever before.
01:41We were taken to a secret location somewhere in the Kyiv region
01:44to report on the very latest in interceptor drone technology.
01:51And the timing couldn't have been more relevant.
01:54This was the day Ukraine would suffer its heaviest aerial attack of the war to date.
02:02As we were filming, around 800 Russian drones and missiles
02:06were already in Ukrainian airspace or on the way.
02:13The soldiers here told us this was the first time a GoPro camera
02:16had ever been mounted on an interceptor.
02:19We're filming, we're filming.
02:27This is the Sting, a first-person view interceptor drone created by the company Wild Hornets.
02:33It holds a 500-gram warhead and can fly up to 280 kilometers an hour.
02:45Hundreds of drones, some of them jet-powered, were fired at Ukraine that day.
02:49The Ukrainian air force says it shot down 95%.
02:53Wild Hornets is a poster child of Ukraine's defense industry,
02:57sharing almost daily videos on social media of the damage its Sting interceptors are doing to Russia's shaheads.
03:04On this site, we saw half a dozen soldiers learn to launch and pilot the Sting,
03:09all while watching for real targets up above.
03:13In this film, some faces and voices have been disguised,
03:16and location details have been deliberately withheld
03:19to protect the safety of those involved.
03:30Interceptor drones take off vertically before flying like a missile.
03:35This is the sound of a Sting travelling at 250 kilometers an hour.
03:46Wild Hornets started shooting down Iranian-style shahead drones only in the spring of 2025.
03:53While some mobile defense units still use machine guns to take down drones,
03:59interceptors now account for the majority of hits.
04:02They were telling us they produce over 10,000 units a month,
04:06and are low cost, high speed, and can climb to heights of up to 7 kilometers in the sky.
04:12And they need all of this to be able to keep up with the wave after wave of shahead and
04:18geran drones
04:19that are being launched from Russia every single day.
04:23Each Sting costs around $2,000,
04:26a fraction of the cost of the Russian one-way attack drones they chase,
04:30which are estimated to cost at least $20,000 each.
04:33The more Sting's produced, and the more effective they are, the more lives are saved.
04:40The motivation is the same as I was at the beginning.
04:42I want to save my land, my relatives, my family.
04:46But now it's a little bit transformed, and I want to die.
04:51The Russians are also innovating quickly.
04:54Their latest generation attack drones are jet-powered
04:57and can be controlled remotely by operators, rather than following preset coordinates.
05:01In response, Wild Hornets told us it is already working on the Sting too.
05:07It's faster, has thermal imaging cameras, and will use AI to identify targets
05:12and help the drone make its final approach.
05:16The company has even tested something called Hornet Vision Control,
05:20which allows pilots to control the Sting via a network of satellite links
05:24from hundreds, if not thousands of kilometers away.
05:28Now we are working on the way to destroy the Sting on the other continent, not only from other countries.
05:35And we must also consider that the technologies are changing not only our own,
05:40but the counteractivity to any other technologies is also active.
05:46Interceptors can now be launched from the air and from mothership drones.
05:51One manufacturer, Skyfall, has released an interceptor that uses AI
05:54to autonomously lock onto and destroy a target.
05:59The aim is simple, to take down as many Russian drones as possible,
06:03keep pilots safe, and of course, protect the people on the ground,
06:07living in the shadow of these daily attacks.
06:19The night after our visit to Wild Hornets, more than 20 people were killed in attacks on Kyiv.
06:27This block of apartments was hit by a cruise missile.
06:46And in the southeastern city of Dnipro, only two days later,
06:50we saw what happened when missile fragments hit populated areas.
06:53The houses were on in the couch.
07:04At about 3 hours at night at 4 o'clock in the morning,
07:09the lights were released and they flew up and flew up.
07:12And I was taking a dinner and I was walking to the kitchen and went to the front,
07:16and all the lights were turned out and the lights were all up.
07:19When I was coming out of the morning in the morning,
07:20the lights were on and then I was going to sleep,
07:23and the opening of the райans went through to the other side,
07:30Miraculously, no one died in this attack.
07:33About 20 people were injured, including Olha's neighbour.
07:38Restless innovation has been the only way for Ukraine to try to stay ahead of Russia.
07:44Since 2022, Ukraine has rapidly transformed from a country reliant on weapons imports
07:49to a military tech powerhouse in its own right.
07:54Kyiv still needs outside support, but as we saw, the outside world is increasingly coming
08:00to Ukraine for inspiration.
08:04In recent years, drones have stolen the show, but at another secret location we saw how some
08:10of the most advanced remote-controlled systems have their feet firmly on the ground.
08:16These are uncrewed ground vehicles, or UGVs, fast becoming an essential player inside the
08:22kill zone.
08:24That's the name given to the 25 kilometres on either side of the front line where exploding
08:29drones hunt at will.
08:32This one is the Rattel M, a four-wheeler with a range of 75 kilometres.
08:40So these are Rattel ground robots, they can produce hundreds of these a month for as little
08:46as tens of thousands of dollars each unit.
08:49And these are making such a difference on the battlefield, because the fact is, these
08:52can replace human beings in the kill zone.
08:56They can deploy FPV drones and also evacuate wounded soldiers if need be.
09:19The medium size Rattel M is for logistics.
09:24In these robots you could see our prototype of net shooting system to protect our UGV from
09:32the previous fiber optics.
09:36We use stereo cameras, we use our own neural network and net shooting systems.
09:42The biggest one...
09:43And this is the larger Rattel H, capable of delivering a load of around 600 kilograms,
09:48including launchers for FPV drones.
10:04Robots made in this factory can also be packed with explosives for one-way attack missions
10:09or lay mines.
10:24This is a video of the mine-laying robot on a training exercise.
10:31And this is a combat mission carried out by an exploding UGV against a Russian-held bridge.
10:38We haven't enough humans in Ukraine like Russia.
10:42And UGV could change our humans in the front line.
10:45And it's very good when we change and save our soldiers in logistics missions.
10:51So it's the most important to save our lives, soldiers' lives.
10:56For Ukraine, those lives are precious.
10:59The International Institute for Strategic Studies estimates Russia has over 1.2 million active
11:04military personnel, with Ukraine nearly 700,000.
11:11Ukraine's Ministry of Defense knows that robots are key to narrowing the gap.
11:16It contracted 25,000 UGVs in just the first half of 2026, and said 10,000 missions were
11:23carried out in April alone.
11:25Before the full-scale invasion, Taras managed a company that made street lamps.
11:29He now employs around 350 people.
11:34He says a vehicle produced in his factory for $27,000 would cost around $200,000 if produced
11:41by a NATO country.
11:44From here, new iterations are immediately battle-tested, with new ideas moving from design to front-line
11:50in a matter of weeks.
11:53The next step of robots will be AI solutions.
11:56And for now, we start testing our follow-me mode when a robot follows the soldiers.
12:00It will be robots and solutions only for infantry.
12:03We start testing in our training field and neural network AI to detect by using only stereo cameras.
12:10We detect drones in 100 meters around our robots.
12:13The truth is, many of these robots will have a very short life expectancy when they reach
12:18the front lines.
12:19At least they can be easily replaced, unlike soldiers.
12:23We were also given a first look at Rattel's latest prototype, an amphibious ground robot
12:29designed for fighting on the contested islands of the Dnieper Delta south of Kherson.
12:35Both the interceptor drones and ground robots are critical to the numbers game.
12:40Ukraine has fewer soldiers than its enemy, so technology and machines are needed to fill
12:45the gap and preserve life.
12:48And our ultimate goal is to have 100% of all transportation on the last 10-20 kilometers
12:57should be done only by robots, because we should not risk our soldiers.
13:03Robots are undoubtedly saving lives in the kill zone.
13:06But, of course, destroying the enemy is also a priority for Ukraine's military.
13:11Ukraine's Ministry of Defense said in May that for months it had been killing and injuring
13:16more soldiers than Russia was able to recruit, a morbid ratio that Ukraine feels it needs
13:22to maintain for the sake of its own survival.
13:31It's places like this where Ukraine's killer drone pilots come to refine their skills, the Killhouse Academy.
13:39Over 7,000 people have passed through its stores over the last two years.
13:45Soldiers, foreign volunteers, as well as civilians.
13:48First, they learn the basics of controlling simple quadcopters like this.
13:55We've come to the Killhouse Academy and there are drones flying all around us, some are crashing as well.
14:01Students here are right at the end of a six-day basic drone flying course and they'll leave here with
14:07their certificate.
14:08And many will take it straight to the front line where drones and drone flying skills are so desperately needed.
14:14That one just crashed.
14:19We're trying to give them much control so they can hover in front of targets.
14:26They can hover while their signal is breaking so they should just stop it and wait till the situation will
14:35be better.
14:36So we are teaching them to fly slowly because that means that you can fly much longer distance because your
14:45battery wouldn't discharge fast.
14:48And after that we are giving them harder obstacles to do to work with it.
14:57Students also need to know how to handle explosives and hit human-sized targets too.
15:11This test is just with a small charge, but in the field FPV drones often have payloads of about one
15:17kilogram.
15:21Sante is a foreign volunteer fighter with Ukraine's army.
15:25He's been on the receiving end of drone attacks, but is new to piloting.
15:31It's like driving a car.
15:33You need to learn properly and you need to practice and practice and practice and practice.
15:38The unique experience I have with drones are running in front of them, taking some practice of them or hiding
15:44of them.
15:45For us, the logistics today can't be executed without drones.
15:52While drones or flying once, without drones, you're done.
15:55Putting people on the ground.
15:57You seem to ignore you.
15:59That's giving Ukraine the upper hand to keep holding the ground in front of Russians.
16:06Drone pilots like those operating the Sting are also getting used to the idea of working far away from the
16:11combat zone.
16:13There is no difference.
16:15There is no difference.
16:16I will show you the bländage that we have here today.
16:18And, actually, from this bländage you can handle drones that are right behind the window,
16:24and you can handle drones that are in other parts of the world.
16:29There is no big difference in this.
16:31among the most.
16:34Drones are not just getting smarter, faster and deadlier — they are also getting bigger.
16:41We were taken to another secret location to see for ourselves.
16:53Now this beast is known as the Peron Max and at $25,000 a pop, this is one of the
17:00biggest
17:00drones in the Ukrainian army at the moment.
17:02This is used for logistics supplies and bomber missions as well.
17:19Starlink is emerging as the go-to technology for Ukraine's remotely
17:36controlled army, giving them a distinct advantage.
17:41Drones that rely on radio frequencies and GPS are vulnerable to electronic warfare, while
17:46fibre optic cables can break, especially at higher altitudes or when navigating obstacles.
17:52Operators using mini Starlink nodes can send commands, video feeds and data via low earth
17:58orbit satellites and an array of ground stations to the drone's dish.
18:03Most of the components that make up the drone are made in Ukraine.
18:26This team is simulating a mission to locate, identify and attack a target using the head
18:32heavy bomber.
18:34The smaller Peron Mini is largely used for reconnaissance.
18:44The large Peron X is mainly used as a bomber, but is increasingly needed for logistics, helping
18:49to resupply soldiers inside the kill zone.
18:54death.
18:55Descendoить the Patriot, Urnus-Advis, anti-anarchies, Bloods and
18:56If they don't want, the guy can't they can't in those positions.
19:02The Chinese are in activations, but they can be able to turn into the
19:04helicopter.
19:04The other reason they can switch from the Kakarly-Key-Key-Key-Keymah-Key-Key-Keymah-Keymah-Keymah.
19:07They are also moving on to the other side, they are moving.
19:09They are moving on to the other side and they can pull the aircraft.
19:09A basic term, which is why they can go under the Russian aircraft.
19:11And they are moving on to the ground because I have a right power-to-kissy type of aircraft.
19:15And they are moving on to the other side.
19:19This industry is going to recourse.
19:21The Perrin X can travel 15km and drop three 15kg warheads on targets before returning to base.
19:29Once in the air, the crew operates the drone's array of high-tech features.
19:34First is detecting what's known as spoofing, an attempt by the enemy to confuse the drone with fake satellite navigation
19:41signals, throwing it off target.
19:43If spoofing or jamming is detected, these drones can switch to optical navigation, using onboard cameras to read the landscape
19:52and fly autonomously.
19:54Also to come, AI-controlled bomber swarms, with up to 50 bombers in the air surveying the landscape and identifying
20:02targets.
20:22In this cat-and-mouse arms race, it's a case of innovate or die.
20:27Often within weeks of one side deploying a new technology or upgrade, the other side plays its counter-move.
20:36This video shows a recent mission in which the crew discovered an unexploded warhead from a Russian Shahed drone.
20:43They attached it to a bomber drone, flew it back towards the enemy and dropped it on their position.
21:10Many of Ukraine's tech companies sell directly to military units, via a government-backed platform called Brave One.
21:19As well as hardware, they say they currently have 200 companies developing AI solutions to help with things like optical
21:26navigation and target recognition for drones and missiles.
21:30The effectiveness, preciseness, terminal guidance, this is the areas where AI is the best.
21:36The systems where a lot of data should be processed and the decisions based on the big data should be
21:43taken.
21:44Visual analysis, computer vision, machine vision, acoustic signature detection, radio detection.
21:57Ukraine's war machine is also innovating at sea.
22:00Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine has managed to push much of Russia's Black Sea Fleet away
22:07from the Crimean Peninsula through a combination of missile, long-range drone, and sea drone strikes.
22:13We were given rare access to a special forces unit within Ukraine's intelligence services, known as the Black Sea Legion.
22:21It's designing weapons to take the fight further out to sea and into Russian territory.
22:26And all this was turned into a small garage.
22:32And all this was turned into a small garage.
22:32And all this was turned into a small garage.
22:36And all this was turned into a large infrastructure for creating a whole robotized system, which allowed to control not
22:43only one drone drone, but with huge groups of escadrilles,
22:47which allowed to attack the whole fleet of the Russian Federation.
23:02This is a simulation of a remotely controlled naval drone, and this is the real thing.
23:09The Katran X-1.2, not only capable of operating as an exploding drone against Russian Navy ships, but also
23:18features hatches for you-know-what interceptor drones.
23:25Now I control X-1.2, that's naval drone with 23 rocket drones for attack on Dasha Head.
23:38Max speed, like 100 km per hour.
23:44Back in the central control room on the screen, a target long seen as the holy grail for Ukraine's deep
23:50strikes.
23:51The Kirsch bridge linking Russia to occupied Crimea.
23:56Ninth says his unit is ready to attack, and is just waiting for the sign.
24:02And their latest trick, deploying their uncrewed boats to stop, threaten and divert ships in the Black Sea that they
24:09suspect of illegally transporting Ukrainian goods for export.
24:13With this system, for half a second, we can destroy the ship.
24:20With these drones, we can hold the hull and hold the arrested ships.
24:28With time-to-arrested ships.
24:30With separate drones, we can cover air space.
24:38So, this is a system.
24:41You've got to be more thankful.
24:43Because, let me tell you, you don't have the cards.
24:46With us, you have the cards.
24:48But without us, you don't have any cards.
25:06When needs must, Ukraine still uses more old-school methods to take down enemy drones.
25:12A few hours before we visited this mobile air defence unit, it was targeting a Shahed with a Browning machine
25:18gun.
25:20But in a war that never stands still, even here, the unit is training up on the very latest interceptors.
25:30This is the wall of remembrance for the fallen of Ukraine, close to Kyiv's central St. Michael's Square.
25:37And these are the faces of just some of the victims of a war that began in 2014.
25:49Here in Kyiv, we can see the relics of Russia's failed so-called special military operation of February 2022 to
25:56take the capital and the rest of the country.
25:58But since we've been in Ukraine, we've been given incredible access to the next generation of technical innovation that's changing
26:06the course of this war.
26:10Compared with today's innovations, these tanks look like they belong in another time altogether.
26:16With everything to lose, Ukraine knows it needs to win the tech arms race and continue fighting tomorrow's war today.
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