Tried and tested in war: For European drone manufacturers, Ukraine is the place to be

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LE BOURGET, France (AP) — About once a month, French drone manufacturer Henri Seydoux makes what has become a necessary pilgrimage for many in his business — he goes to Ukraine.

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Because for drone technology, there is no harder place to survive than the frontlines of the war against Russia’s invasion, where both sides are using unmanned aerial machines of all shapes and sizes to kill and to observe, reshaping modern warfare.

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And because the battlefields also bristle with electronic countermeasures and weapons to confuse, jam and shoot down drones, Ukraine has also become an extreme real-life proving ground for advances in drone technology, some of which has started to spill over into non-military sectors.

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For manufacturers, being able to say that their drones and related equipment have been battle-tried and tested by Ukrainian forces is becoming a sales pitch as they market their wares not just to national defense departments, but also to police forces, border authorities, rescue services and civilian users.

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“When we say, ‘This is a good machine, it works,’ people can believe us or not. But when it’s guys in Ukraine and others saying they’re happy, it has greater value,” says Bastien Mancini, president and co-founder of French drone manufacturer Delair, which has teamed up with European defense contractor KNDS to supply Ukrainian forces with 100 exploding drones. KNDS’ sales literature notes that they are “combat-proven.”

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Mancini says civilian users of Delair’s other non-military drones “see things that work in Ukraine and say to themselves, ‘It resists jamming, it resists the loss of a radio connection and whatnot and so it’s going to be fine for civilian use, like inspecting electric cables or whatever.”

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“It really has helped us win markets. It gives people confidence,” he told The Associated Press at the Paris Air Show, a major shop-window for the aviation and defense industries.

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‘Drones saved Ukraine’

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Henri Seydoux, the founder and head of French drone maker Parrot, says Ukraine is “fascinating” from a drone-technology perspective because “it changes so quickly, there are new ideas non-stop.” He’s been making regular trips since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 to meet Ukrainian drone manufacturers, drone software developers and the military authorities.

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“Every quarter, the situation changes completely,” he said in an interview. “Every company, let’s say, that makes military equipment or every army is very interested by drones. But the ones that really use them and understand how to use them is the Ukrainians.”

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For Ukraine, trying to defend against swarms of Russian drones that target cities and waves of drone-supported Russian troops is a matter of survival. So, too, is finding workarounds to counter electronic warfare systems that Russia deploys to jam and disable Ukrainian drones, igniting what has become a drone-technology arms race between the two sides and for manufacturers outside of Ukraine, too.