Defense industries have traditionally focused on the quality of military output, but the war in Ukraine has demonstrated the importance of mass production.
On September 28, Russia launched nearly 500 drones and more than 40 missiles across Ukraine. In Kyiv, at least four people were killed and more than seventy wounded. Dozens were also injured in Zaporizhzhia.
Since 2022, Kyiv has endured more than 1,800 air raid alarms lasting over 2,200 hours. Increasingly, these occur during daylight, forcing schools, businesses, and cultural institutions into shelters for hours at a time. Russia continues its campaign of exhaustion, seeking to undermine Ukrainian resolve with overwhelming waves of drones.
What was once Ukraine’s challenge is now becoming Europe’s. Russian drones increasingly approach NATO airspace, threatening critical infrastructure and testing the continent’s defenses.
Lacking sufficient traditional air defense systems, Ukraine is racing to develop and scale drone interceptors. European countries are also seeking to procure such systems from Kyiv. However, production takes time, as does the training of operators. Russia, meanwhile, is capable of producing hundreds of various drones daily. Cheap decoys costing only a few thousand dollars can effectively overload air defense networks.
Although Ukraine shoots down the majority of Russian drones, their low cost allows Moscow to launch large volleys that still inflict casualties and damage.
Russia is also adapting rapidly. New “supercam” drones equipped with radio sensors can detect approaching interceptors and perform evasive maneuvers automatically. The conflict has become as much a contest of adaptability and iteration as of any single technology.
Laser systems remain a promising direction. In 2024, Ukraine tested a domestic laser weapon called Trident, reportedly capable of destroying drones, bombs, and missiles at ranges up to three kilometers, and of blinding targets at up to ten. Further details remain classified, and large-scale deployment has not yet begun.
Yet no single technology will decide the outcome of this war. Survival depends on constant innovation, rapid adaptation, and maintaining technological initiative.
Ukrainian forces are reinforcing their logistics networks — in the east, protective nets are already being installed over roads to shield supply routes. Similar measures may soon be needed in cities as drone attacks increasingly target civilians. In Kherson, Russian strikes on bridges, roads, and residential areas are intensifying, threatening to divide the city in two.
Unable to defend everywhere, Ukraine has also gone on the offensive, targeting drone production and storage facilities. These strikes have reduced Russia’s output and launch frequency significantly. By late summer, the number of drone launches dropped by nearly one-third, and swarm attacks shrank from 700 drones to around 100 or fewer per assault.
To achieve greater impact, Ukraine requires more powerful missiles. Europe possesses the necessary technologies but continues to lack the political will to deploy them fully. One potential development is the domestically produced Flamingo missile, whose solid rocket fuel will be manufactured in Denmark.
The threat of Russian drones over European cities and key infrastructure, including airports, is no longer theoretical. What Ukraine endures today may soon test all of Europe.