Dorozvidka #16: How much UAV makers earn, the new US drone doctrine, two interviews with Zhumadilov, and “Liutik”

How much did the top drone manufacturers among Diia.City residents earn last year? How will procurement based on tactical and technical specifications change drone tenders in Ukraine? Which technologies does Mykhailo Fedorov believe should be the top funding priority under the new €100 million BraveTech EU initiative? And how is the war in Ukraine shaping American military doctrine?

It’s been a packed week — Dorozvidka #16 is here to help you make sense of it.

Defence companies among the top earners in Diia.City

BRDO has analysed the 2024 financial reports of companies registered under the Diia.City legal framework. By the end of last year, Diia.City had brought together 1,396 companies, with one of the main drivers of growth being the expansion of permitted business activities — a move that opened the door to drone and military equipment manufacturers.

BRDO’s analysis revealed that three defence companies ranked among the top five Diia.City participants by revenue. Third to fifth place were taken by:

• Skryntek LLC (UAV supplier) – UAH 6.5 billion
• TekhAvtofart Pivden LLC (UAV manufacturer) – UAH 5.4 billion
• UkrSpecSystems LLC (UAV manufacturer) – UAH 5.2 billion

BRDO notes that two of the three companies only began manufacturing and supplying drones in 2023. Before that, Skryntek specialised in selling COVID-19 test kits, while TekhAvtofart Pivden focused on supplying auto parts, vehicles, and other commercial goods.

Mykhailo Fedorov on BraveTech EU

Last week, Ukraine and the EU announced the launch of the BraveTech EU initiative, which will pool €100 million to support breakthrough wartime technologies. In an interview with RBC-Ukraine, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, shared details about the project.

According to Fedorov, the new initiative will operate in a similar way to Ukraine’s Brave1 cluster but will provide funding not only to Ukrainian startups, but also to European ones.

“We are creating a separate market for defence startups. For example, there are solutions related to CRPA antennas or autonomous drones — and some of these solutions exist within European companies, but there hasn’t been a platform for collaboration. Now, we’ll be able to run a hackathon, award grants to the winners, and then test everything on the battlefield in Ukraine,” Fedorov explained.

According to him, the initiative’s founders are primarily interested in products with a high level of autonomy, projects aimed at countering glide bombs (KABs), and fibre-optic drones.

Head of the MoD’s Innovation Centre on Interceptor Drones Against Shaheds

Yuriy Myronenko, Head of the Centre for Innovation and Development of Defence Technologies at Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence, told Forbes how Ukraine is advancing its interceptor drone technology. According to him, Ukrainian solutions are driven by artificial intelligence, which guides the drones and enables them to adapt to changes in the enemy’s tactics. Russia is constantly altering the routes, altitude, and speed of its kamikaze drones, forcing air defence systems to quickly adjust.

Myronenko notes that more than one interceptor drone is currently in the final stages of testing. “There are several solutions of different classes, each adapted to various attack scenarios. Some have already been tested in combat, while others are being prepared for serial production,” he writes.

At the same time, Myronenko stresses that sharing too many details about interceptors is dangerous. “Every video, every post about an interceptor in action that appears in the public domain becomes a reference point for the enemy,” he warns.

The New US Drone Doctrine

Last week, the Pentagon announced sweeping reforms aimed at the widespread integration of small drones across all branches of the US Armed Forces. The details of this new policy, spearheaded by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, are outlined in a memorandum titled “Unleashing US Military Drone Dominance.”

Hegseth stated that the United States plans to significantly strengthen its domestic drone manufacturing base, aiming to produce thousands of American-made units, with a strong emphasis on the “Buy American” initiative.

Lower-level commanders have now been granted the authority to independently procure small drones. Some types of small unmanned aerial vehicles will also be reclassified as “expendables” — akin to hand grenades and other munitions — rather than full-fledged aircraft.

In addition, the Pentagon plans to equip combat units with a variety of low-cost, American-made drones.

The Defence Procurement Agency announces tenders for FPV drones based on technical specifications worth over UAH 3.3 Billion

The Ministry of Defence’s Defence Procurement Agency (AOZ) has launched its first FPV drone purchases under framework agreements. The combined expected value of two tenders exceeds UAH 3.3 billion. The relevant procurement notices have been published in a closed section on the Prozorro platform.

For the first time, these purchases are based not on model names but on technical and tactical specifications (TTS). “This is a fundamentally new approach that opens the market to a wider range of manufacturers, allowing the military to procure the equipment they need while maintaining competition and transparency. The framework agreement mechanism enables us to conduct procurement faster among already qualified suppliers,” commented AOZ Director Arsen Zhumadilov.

A framework agreement is a public procurement procedure that involves a preliminary selection of suppliers. Companies first undergo qualification based on basic criteria. Afterwards, AOZ runs specific tenders among them with clearly defined product requirements. Currently, 19 manufacturers have qualified for the framework agreements.

Two Interviews with Arsen Zhumadilov

AOZ Director Arsen Zhumadilov also gave two extensive interviews to Ukrainian media outlets Forbes Ukraine and Babel.

In his conversation with Babel, he explained why there is a shortage of drones, who is to blame for Ukraine lagging several steps behind in planning and procurement, and whether the agency has managed to contract interceptor drones for countering Shahed drones.

In his interview with Forbes, Zhumadilov discussed when all drone, electronic warfare, and ground robot manufacturers will appear on AOZ’s DOT-Chain Defence marketplace, whether the agency’s budget will increase in 2025, and how the localisation percentage of products will affect procurement decisions.

Zelensky and Syrskyi on interceptor drones

On 12 July, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Russia had launched 1,800 drones, over 1,200 guided bombs, and 83 missiles of various types against Ukraine in just one week.

At the same time, Zelensky praised the effective work of Ukraine’s air defence forces. “Interceptor drones are performing particularly well — with hundreds of Russian-Iranian ‘Shahed’ drones shot down just this week,” he noted. “Every meeting with our partners this week focused on scaling up this technology.”

A few days earlier, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, also addressed the topic of air defence drones. “I am closely monitoring the development of interceptor drones. New crews are being formed, and pilots are being trained. The military needs as many of these high-tech UAVs as possible,” he wrote.

Ministry of Defence Codifies the “Liutik” UGV

The Ministry of Defence has codified and approved the deployment of the Liutik unmanned ground vehicle in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This Ukrainian-developed system is compact enough to be transported on a trailer or even in the bed of a military pickup truck or minibus. Despite its small size, it can carry up to a quarter of a tonne of cargo.

The Liutik features a sealed body, protected against dust and moisture. The robotic ground complex can operate across a wide range of ambient temperatures. Its electric motor’s pulling power and tracked chassis enable it to traverse rough terrain, swamps, sandy embankments, as well as cross shallow ditches and low vertical obstacles.

Despite its compact size, the Liutik can perform a broad range of tasks, particularly logistical ones such as transporting cargo and personnel, and evacuating the wounded. At the same time, it can also serve as a mobile platform for combat modules.