The war in Ukraine is increasingly demonstrating a transition to a new era of warfare. It is becoming evident that military power now depends not on the number of large platforms—tanks, aircraft, or ships—but rather on unmanned systems, missiles, and information technology. Leaders of European countries are showing some awareness of the changing approaches to warfare—countries are launching their own drone programs, working on the integration of artificial intelligence, and updating data transmission systems. At the same time, the transformation must, in fact, be deeper if Europe seeks to protect itself.
"Urgent situation"—this is how medicine usually describes a patient's condition that requires immediate intervention, as survival may be at stake. This was the term used by the organizers of this year's Paris Air Forum to describe not only the aviation industry but also the general security challenges facing Europe. At the event, which brought together over 2,000 participants, attention was paid not only to civil aviation—the focus was on the military sphere, and not so much on aircraft as on unmanned systems and anti-aircraft warfare systems.
According to the Atlas Institute for International Affairs, by 2025, drones were responsible for 80% of combat losses on the Ukrainian front—compared to 10% in 2022. Ukraine uses about 270,000 drones every month—and these are estimates; in reality, the figure may be higher. FPV drones, strike drones for hitting targets deep in enemy territory, ground robotic platforms, and systems... All of this is changing the theater of military operations. But these modern systems are actually a manifestation of deep changes that Ukraine reached through the bitter experience of war, while partner countries are only beginning to realize them.
Move fast and scale
Representatives of Ukrainian defense manufacturers, who were among the guests at the Paris Air Forum, are unanimous that the issue of survival and the need to confront the enemy here and now forced them to move as quickly as possible. But this haste is not chaos, nor even a tactical decision; it has become the basis for strategic changes in the defense sector. Now, only a few months may pass from the emergence of an idea to its launch into production. If it comes to making changes to an already finished product, it can literally happen in real-time and be immediately tested on the battlefield. While Western industrial giants test hypotheses, create test models, and wait for the moment of economic feasibility to launch a new product—Ukrainians simply do not have the time for this.
"We have many small teams that make a product day in and day out and implement our innovation in about one month and test it on the battlefield," said Oleksandr Yakovenko, founder of FPV drone manufacturer TAF Industries, during the Paris Air Forum.
Another important aspect that Ukrainian manufacturers have understood is that the one who scales gets ahead. A product must be created from the start in a way that makes it easier to increase production volumes. Iryna Terekh, CEO and CTO of Fire Point, who was present at the Paris Air Forum, gave the example of the FP-1 strike drone: at the start of production, the company had ambitions to produce 20 units per month, and now it produces 260 per day.
"I think the only reason why this became possible is that scalability was built into the design from day one. In the classic defense industry, a product is first developed, tested in the R&D department, and only then handed over to production. We involve industrial design from day one, because there is no point in creating a very good product if you don't have the ability to scale it. The principle of economic efficiency and scalability is a key part of the design itself," Terekh said.
Be more cost-effective
Iryna Terekh emphasizes that we should stop thinking in categories of individual products—planes, missiles, ships—and start thinking in categories of capability. How to achieve maximum efficiency in a shorter time and with minimal costs?
The logic is simple but difficult to implement due to the need to find the most effective solutions that are easy to scale and relatively cheap. But Ukrainian manufacturers are demonstrating significant success here as well: while Middle Eastern countries were hitting inexpensive Iranian "Shaheds" with PAC-3 missiles costing millions of dollars, Ukraine used drones worth $2,000 against these UAVs.
Create holistic ecosystems and make products compatible
It is impossible to create an effective product without considering the real needs of the defense sector. To do this, production must be integrated into a holistic ecosystem of innovation, continuous feedback from the military, an understanding of potential threats, and existing economic and technological capabilities. The Ukrainian defense industry is still on the way to this. But even today, manufacturers actively interact with those who use their weapons to constantly improve products. Domestic manufacturers try to localize production as much as possible while looking for ready-made solutions that will make their weapons maximally effective. And this leads us to another principle where Europeans have not yet achieved a breakthrough—the creation of platforms that will be easily compatible with each other, interact seamlessly, aggregate intelligence data, and connect to common command and control systems.
Thus, European countries have much to learn from Ukraine. And first and foremost, it is the understanding of the deep transformation of the logic of warfare. Today, the size of the army no longer guarantees an advantage, but the speed of responding to challenges, the introduction of innovations, understanding real needs and potential threats, and finding the most effective solutions that are easy to scale provide a chance for victory. Traditional weapons systems are also losing their advantages. They are expensive, often incompatible with each other, and their production is long and limited in volume.
Ukraine has become the most innovative defense-industrial ecosystem in Europe. Its engineers integrate combat experience in the field of drones, electronic warfare, and precision strikes at a speed unattainable for most traditional production cycles. Ukraine's role needs to be rethought: not as a victim of aggression, but as a global exporter of combat-proven defense technologies critical to Europe's security. And here another aspect becomes clear—it is beneficial for Europe to invest in the Ukrainian defense industry. This is not only about deterring the threat from the Russian Federation but also about the pragmatic opportunity to further benefit from access to the most effective and cheapest next-generation solutions.