00:00Hello friends, Russia is attacking with new jet-powered drones at 600 kilometers per hour
00:06are reducing the defense response time to just seconds. What's the solution?
00:10Ukraine will deploy the Beard of Prey from Airbus, a robotic interceptor that hunts in the air
00:15autonomously. Stay with me and I'll explain it to you.
00:21We begin with a Ukrainian attack mosquito that takes up position behind the Zedhord,
00:25but instead of landing on the ground, its operator makes it hang from a high-voltage line.
00:30This tactic aims to give the drone a wider field of observation,
00:34allowing it to identify the enemy's presence from farther away. I'm sure Ivan will love this little
00:38surprise. On the technological front, just three days after its public presentation at the IT Arena
00:48conference in Lviv, the Robot Army Initiative, led by Mikhailo Fedorov, former Minister of Defense of
00:54Ukraine, is shaping up to be the next industrial mobilization in a war that has already been
00:59transformed by unmanned systems. The project is not limited to a single manufacturer or a
01:05government program. It is conceived as an ecosystem that includes investment in Ukrainian defense
01:09companies, research, and development. Coupled with rapid testing on the battlefield alongside the army
01:15and agile scaling of those solutions that prove effective under enemy fire. The operational concept
01:21envisions that sensors and reconnaissance systems detect the threat and coordinate a response,
01:26where unmanned robotic platforms are the first to confront the invader.
01:31The robots, which range from unmanned ground vehicles, wheeled or tracked, to quadruped models
01:37and even humanoid systems, will take on tasks such as casualty evacuation, ammunition resupply,
01:43mine laying and removal, reconnaissance, defense of positions, and conducting direct attacks.
01:51The Ukrainian media that covered the presentation in Lviv reported that the project aims for the
01:57first confirmed use of a humanoid robot within six months, as well as a full assault by a robotic
02:02force without infantry presence within 12 months. Fedorov stated that the next cycle of the war will be
02:10decided thanks to robotics, autonomous systems, and superior sensors. The project is actively
02:16recruiting defense technology companies, engineers specialized in robotics and artificial intelligence
02:21through the website The Army of Robots. The funding for the program is organized by the CEO of Palantir,
02:30Alex Karp, who is also the main initial investor, which certainly gives weight to the initiative.
02:36I don't know if they're accepting suggestions, but I have some ideas for the design of Ukrainian combat
02:42companies. Along the same lines, the German companies Axe Robotics and Deutz-Age have completed
02:50and begun delivering to Ukraine the first units of the Geryon unmanned ground vehicles manufactured at
02:56the Deutz plant in Ulm just 12 weeks after announcing the start of their serial production.
03:02These tracked platforms work with RX's Maitra OS software, which is an operating environment
03:09with artificial intelligence capabilities that can network multiple vehicles for coordinated operations,
03:15enabling a quick response to threats and efficient management of their missions.
03:19Each Geryon has a range of 40 kilometers and an operational capacity of up to 72 hours,
03:25carrying up to 500 kilograms of payload, which can include logistical supplies,
03:29stretchers for casualty evacuation, sensors, or a low-key remotely operated combat module from Valhalla
03:35turrets. The German company has already delivered hundreds of Geryon vehicles. In May of this year,
03:43it signed a contract with the Ukrainian government to, in their words, quintuple the fleet of these
03:48vehicles. The Ukrainian defenders have these vehicles in service and have publicly stated that their goal is
03:53to acquire 25,000 ground drones just during the first half of 2026.
04:00Now, while we wait for the deployment of Fedorov's robot army,
04:04the defenders are saturating the front lines with, literally, hundreds of attack mosquitoes.
04:11The density of the swarm protecting Ukraine can be seen in this video, where a Russian reconnaissance drone records dozens
04:17of attack drones,
04:18maybe even more than 100, all lined up on a small stretch of road near the front, waiting for orders
04:23to head to their target.
04:26Ukrainian operators position their systems in areas close to the front to avoid wasting battery,
04:31and they only take off once a target has been positively identified for them.
04:37In this way, if there aren't enough invaders in the area, the unused drones can return to their launch zone
04:42to get fresh batteries so they can carry out another mission. This way, they avoid losing drones simply
04:49because they run out of battery. Turning to strategic strikes, the invaders have started sending Geran 5
04:57jet-attack drones against the border crossings between Ukraine and Poland. In this case, we see one of those
05:03attacks carried out on September 28th against the Jawa holding crossing. The invaders' objective seems to
05:10be to hinder the transit of passengers and cargo from Europe. These incursions are possible because
05:15Russia has installed signal repeater antennas in Belarus and in the occupied region of Transnistria
05:21in Moldova, which allows them to guide their drones deep into Ukrainian territory.
05:31Although this one seems to have lost its operator's control signal, which caused it to go into an
05:36uncontrolled spin and crash to the ground in a Ukrainian city, whose inhabitants could only hide,
05:42hoping the vulture wouldn't fall nearby since its warhead exploded upon impact.
05:51To face this growing wave of jet drone attacks, Airbus Defense and Space has developed the reusable
05:58unmanned interceptor Beard of Prey, which is launched by Catapult.
06:03And it has attracted the interest of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense and already has
06:07real air-to-air combat tests scheduled in Ukraine before the end of 2026.
06:12Built on a modified fuselage of a 2DT-25 target drone, the aircraft measures 3.1 meters in length
06:19and 2.5 meters in width. It weighs 160 kilograms at takeoff and is designed to be recovered by
06:26parachute, rearmed and launched again on another mission. The demonstration carried out in March
06:322026 in Northern Germany showed how the system is capable of autonomously searching for, detecting
06:37and classifying a medium-sized enemy kamikaze drone before launching a Mark 1 missile from
06:43Frankenberg Technologies. The prototype carried four of these fire-and-forget interceptors,
06:48each weighing only 2 kilograms. But the operational configuration foresees
06:53up to 8 units, each with a combat range of 1.5 kilometers and a fragmentation warhead with a
06:58proximity fuse. Frankenberg is an Estonian startup that hopes to produce 100 missiles
07:05per dalton by the end of this year, with its two plants located in Latvia. The cost-per-minute
07:10missile would be $20,000 per unit, while a Russian jet drone costs between $60,000 and $80,000.
07:17The development speed of this bird of prey and its missile has been incredible,
07:21as the program went from the conceptual phase to real interception testing in 9 months,
07:25an unprecedented time frame in the European aerospace defense sector.
07:30In addition, the system uses exclusively European technology, so the solution is completely free from
07:36US restrictions under the ITER regulations. Let's hope that soon we can see these predators
07:42protecting the skies of Ukraine. In any case, Ukrainian engineers are also working on domestic
07:53solutions, and on September 28, the 1020th, the Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile and artillery
07:59regiment managed to destroy a Russian jet-powered Gran V attack drone, which was intercepted over
08:05northern Ukraine, while it was flying at 425 kilometers per hour, hour and at an altitude of over
08:103 kilometers. This is the sixth documented shootdown of a Gran V by a Ukrainian interceptor, which could
08:17be the fourth different type of interceptor tested in recent weeks. The Gran V, deployed by Russia since
08:25early 2026, is considered more of a small cruise missile than a conventional strategic attack drone.
08:32It measures about 6 meters with a wingspan of 5.5 meters, carries a warhead of about 90 kilograms,
08:38has a range close to 1000 kilometers and a maximum speed of 600 kilometers per hour.
08:44This speed reduces the reaction time of mobile air defense groups from about a minute to just a few
08:50seconds. That has caused the interception rate against the Gidana helix to drop from 90 to just 55%.
09:00The race for the skies over Ukraine is still ongoing, and neither side is letting up.
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