Presented by NATO DIANA:
BLUF:
The price of Chinese-supplied fiber-optic cables that are vital to make EW-resistant drones has skyrocketed as a result of surging demand. Ukrainian manufacturers are working on scaling drones with Starlink and LTE connection as an alternative, while fiber-optic gradually becomes a more niche solution.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry has announced new types of contracts that will include a guaranteed deferral from mobilization for at least six months upon completion.
The Ukrainian defense technology company BlueBird Tech is launching a service to rent out its Chuyka 3.0 drone detector for humanitarian missions, local frontline residents, or anyone who needs a drone detector temporarily.
Alta Ares, a French-Ukrainian defense company, raised €50 million (around $58 million) of series A investments with an investment round led by Air Street Capital. The goal is to scale up production and upgrade existing products.
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A message from NATO DIANA: Beyond funding – what innovators gain through NATO DIANA
DIANA’s Accelerator Programme supports innovators at every stage of growth. Participants engage with government and defence end users across NATO to address critical defence and security challenges, test their solutions through a network of test centres, and operate within a transatlantic ecosystem of allied end users, innovators, accelerators, test centres, and investors. The programme also provides exposure to business development opportunities and support from investors and scaling partners across the alliance, alongside guidance on mitigating intellectual property and security risks.
DIANA does not take any intellectual property rights in the solution, or equity in the business. DIANA provides contractual funding to enable iteration of the solution and attendance to the accelerator programme.
To find out more about DIANA’s Accelerator Programme, view here.
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Mariana Khala has joined Darkstar, the European defense investment fund, as Country Manager (Ukraine) & Strategic Communications.
Dmytro Semenov has started a new role as an R&D Test Engineer at Alta Ares.
Daniel Connery has been appointed EW commander in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He is a former U.S. Army Signal Corps officer.
Kateryna Hirna started working at Farsight Vision, a Ukrainian-Estonian startup that develops military software, to help build a Recruitment and HR branch.
Maria Bezbah has joined Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense at HRD direction under Deputy Minister of Defense Mstyslav Banik.
VYRIY, a Ukrainian UAV developer, is scaling up its operations and has more than 200 open positions across manufacturing, analytics, logistics, and other fields.
Oleksandr Matviienko, former leading defense reporter at The Arsenal, has joined the newly established Air Force C-UAS Command.
A message from NATO DIANA:
VARTA DroneHunter is a Ukrainian defense technology company developing autonomous counter-drone solutions to protect military units, UGVs, and critical infrastructure from FPV and other aerial threats.
The company’s product portfolio includes DOZOR AI, an AI-powered detection and tracking platform; DroneHunter, a kinetic drone interception system; SICH, an autonomous interceptor platform; and ATAMAN, an active protection system for UGV and tactical vehicles.
“We are currently seeking investment to accelerate the development of next-generation autonomous defense products, expand our portfolio of interception and engagement systems, and scale manufacturing capabilities,” said Max Dybenko of VARTA DroneHunter.The company is also actively looking for strategic partnerships with UAV and UGV manufacturers to jointly integrate, modify, and modernize platforms with advanced counter-drone protection technologies.
Ukrainian defense-tech company Fire Point has unveiled its own proprietary machine tools for manufacturing rocket engines.
Swarmer, a Ukrainian drone autonomy software developer, has partnered with intelligence firm Molfar Intelligence to integrate verified battlefield OSINT data into its AI systems. Molfar Intelligence will provide Swarmer with verified battlefield OSINT data to train its AI and improve the accuracy and reliability of autonomous systems, a company representative told The Arsenal.
The first Ukrainian-made guided bomb, Vyrivniuvach, was presented at the Eurosatory 2026 exhibition in Paris. The warhead weighs 250 kg, and the guided bomb has a range of 10 to 130+ km, with a flight time of up to 30 minutes.
Ukraine’s defense tech cluster Brave1 and the French Defense Innovation Agency, under the Ministry of the Armed Forces of France, have signed an agreement to launch a joint grant program to develop defense technologies. The initiative will see €10 million contributed by each side.
The Ukrainian autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) SEA TRIDENT was unveiled at Eurosatory 2026 in Paris. The platform can dive to a depth of 60 meters and is capable of performing logistics and strike missions, carrying drones and air defense systems, and intercepting other underwater targets. The platform is currently in the testing phase.
The Ukrainian defense company SkyFall and Airbus Defence and Space have signed a memorandum of understanding to launch a strategic partnership. The main focus of the collaboration will be the integration of the P1-SUN interceptor drone with the Airbus Air C2 command and control system.
The defense company Quantum Systems Ukraine has signed a memorandum to support the Modern Learning Spaces project in collaboration with Ukraine’s Ministry of Education and Science and the Eastern Europe Foundation. The project is part of an educational reform initiative for specialized high schools aimed at addressing the shortage of engineering and technical personnel.
MBDA, a European missile manufacturer, and the engineering design bureau Luch have signed a memorandum of cooperation. The companies will work together to develop a deep-strike capability for the Ukrainian NEPTUNE-2 cruise missile.
