Ukraine has become a world leader in drone development through rapid innovation and civilian-military collaboration. Moderated by Clark Parsons (Innovate Europe Foundation), this DLD26 panel features Valeriya Grachova (Victory Drones), Esben Gadsbøll (Defense Innovation Highway) and René Obermann (Warburg Pincus). Together, they explore how Ukraine’s grassroots defense ecosystem can serve as a blueprint for European security in general.
Grachova highlights how Victory Drones, an NGO that has trained 170,000 drone pilots, acts as an intermediate between the military and civil society. “When war breaks out, “then mobilization happens and suddenly 90% of your military is yesterday’s civilians”, she says.
To support Ukraine’s effort, Gadsbøll’s Defense Innovation Highway connects Nordic tech experts and investors with defense-tech developers in Ukraine. “It’s a war of innovation, so we need to speed up the innovation big time”, he says. Gadsbøll also highlights a need to combat Russian disinformation and launch new initiatives to protect democracies.
Obermann warns that Europe cannot win a traditional war of attrition against Russia and needs to learn from Ukraine. “We have to fight very hard to get technological asymmetric advantages”, he argues. One aspect is air superiority, Obermann adds, an area of innovation that is “not just meant for startups, it also affects the big primes.”
Watch the video to explore this session in detail.
