#Interceptor drones

In 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Ukraine had just a handful of drone companies. Today, there are several hundred in drones alone. Across roughly a dozen DefenceTech subsectors, investments now run into the tens of millions of dollars. And that’s only what’s publicly visible.

As Russia experiments with jet-powered Shahed attack drones designed to outrun conventional interceptors, a civilian quadcopter has just demonstrated the kind of raw speed Ukraine may soon need.

Self-reliance has become the defining narrative for Ukraine’s sprouting defense industry. Foreign military aid played a key role in Ukraine’s early successes, but years of dependence on this aid exposed huge gaps in that framework, especially when coupled with stagnation in political will and slow bureaucratic processes.