Top line

Ukrainian tactical experience and superiority with UAV and C-UAS is spurring the rapid development and deployment of new technology, particularly in Europe. This week continued the trend of multiple major product announcements in UAV and C-UAS. However, it’s notable that the majority of announcements have come from European based defense companies, highlighting the proximity to the war in eastern Ukraine and the very real security threat that the rest of Europe feels from Russia. As the momentum appears to be shifting in Ukraine’s favor, more countries are seeking to establish strategic partnerships with Ukraine in which the benefits go in both directions. This validates the early decisions of many states to support Ukraine at the start of the invasion as those value-based decisions now appear to be bearing a security return in the form of technological advancement and cross-border defense industry partnerships. 

Battlefield

Early Thursday morning, Ukraine launched its largest UAV attack on Moscow to date. The assault targeted a Gazprom Neft operated oil refinery on the southern outskirts of Moscow. This followed another UAV directed attack on the oil refinery just two days before. The extent of the damage is unclear as Russian authorities attempt to downplay the attack but footage from the strikes have flooded social media. The Russian military appears to have deployed MANPADS from active civilian bridges and unverified footage seems to indicate that a munition from one of these may have inadvertently damaged part of the refinery. 

Market

A raft of product announcements this week. MyDefence launched Boxer, a new multi-band jammer which claims defensive C-UAS capabilities up to a range of 10 kilometers. Robin Radar, a Dutch defense firm, announced an upgrade to their IRIS On-The-Move 3D radar system allowing it to now operate on maritime platforms. Rheinmetall demoed a drone-swarm launch platform which hides as a shipping container. Russian Su-34M strike helicopters appear to have been outfitted with C-UAS jammers based on recent footage. In France, Eviden, a civil infrastructure security company has partnered with Hexadrone. The partnership will see Eviden’s intelligence gathering software installed on Hexadrone’s UAVs to provide a deployable SIGINT platform. L3Harris is partnering with Turkish SKydagger to build FPV UAV interceptors into L3Harris’ Vampire C-UAS.

Policy

Reports about a foiled UAV attack on the UFC event hosted on the White House lawn have led to questions about response protocol in the US. Under normal conditions, the first responders to UAV incidents inside the US are local authorities who have limited training in C-UAS. The SAFER SKIES Act, passed earlier this year seeks to provide options for local authorities to participate in C-UAS training. Further legislation to accelerate local C-UAS has been proposed. As the Russian invasion of Ukraine stretches well into its fourth year, Ukraine’s developed dominance in UAV and C-UAS is shifting its allied relationships from one in which Ukraine has to ask for help, to one in which Ukraine’s allies are asking for technical partnerships to build their UAV and C-UAS programs.

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