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Business Insider
09-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Ukraine's rapidly scaling defense industry is changing how the West thinks about future wars
In Ukraine, a defense tech revolution is helping to redefine military supply playbooks in real time. While Russia leans on the brute force of its military-industrial complex — nearly 695,000 troops, relentless missile barrages, and escalating drone strikes — Ukraine has turned necessity into invention. Its growing defense sector is producing drones, robotic land vehicles, and other advanced systems on timelines and budgets that would be unthinkable for most Western militaries. "The ability of Ukraine's industry to build drones at scale and adapt them in response to changing battlefield conditions creates a model that other militaries are striving now to follow," Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told Business Insider. He added: "Although the small FPV drones used by both sides may not have utility in a war against China, the approach of building systems on demand using modular components is beginning to emerge in the US industrial base as well." This transformation has been made possible by Ukraine upending traditional military procurement models. "Necessity and urgency breed true innovation," Emily Harding, vice president of the defense and security department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told BI. "Ukraine has found a way to upend normal cycles of development and procurement to get troops updated equipment within weeks," she added. One key aspect has been to directly connect defense startups with soldiers on the ground. "Linking companies directly with units in the field turns the innovation cycle into a flywheel — rapid feedback, adaptation, sales, and deployment to the front lines," Harding said. Doug Klain, a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center, argues that Ukraine isn't just catching up — it's pointing the way forward for other countries. "Where American defense producers take years to iterate and update systems based on testing before redeploying, Ukrainians are making significant updates within weeks to overcome Russian countermeasures," he said. Meanwhile, Ukraine's shift toward indigenous production is accelerating. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that roughly 40% of Ukraine's weapons now come from domestic sources — an impressive figure for a country under attack. Klain said that Ukraine is also becoming more than just the frontline of Europe's defense. "Far from being a recipient of assistance, Ukraine is a value-add," he told BI. "There is no more experienced army in resisting Russian aggression today, and its defense industry is increasingly tailored to the scale and specialties required for defending Europe." Ukrainian defense startups like TenCore — founded in early 2024 with five employees — highlight this shift. With 175 employees and projecting $80 million in revenue this year, the company has delivered more than 2,000 battlefield systems and turned down acquisition offers to remain independent. Western militaries are taking notice. Ukraine's innovative use of drones and other AI-enabled autonomous systems has "revolutionized the role these technologies play in modern warfare — from logistics to long-range strikes," Lauren Speranza, a fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, told BI. "Modern war between peer competitors is clearly a war of defense industrial bases as much as of men and maneuver," added Harding. "A country that cannot adapt to developments on the battlefield and sustain the warfighters is sure to lose." Even so, military experts caution against wholesale replication in the West. "Western militaries can't over-index on what Ukraine is doing in terms of specific systems because the conditions are unique," Hudson Institute's Clark said. However, he added that leveraging militarily relevant commercial technology "will be essential for gaining an advantage in the 21st century." Lessons may also extend to how future wars are conceptualized. "Ukraine has effectively replaced artillery with drones for entrenched warfare," said Michael O'Hanlon, director of research in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution. "That doesn't change everything about modern combat, but it changes a lot," he added, "and points the way to future close-in fights where drone swarms may dominate." Still, Ukraine's ability to scale remains limited by one major factor: money. With a $12 billion defense budget, officials estimate that the country's production capacity is a third of its true potential. Kyiv is now pushing to attract more Western investment and is eyeing initiatives like the EU's proposed SAFE project — a $150 billion fund designed to strengthen European defense manufacturing. "Ukraine is integral in any future European security architecture," Klain said. "It has genuine lessons to offer as we all figure out how to revitalize defense industries that just aren't up to the needs of modern warfare."
Miami Herald
03-06-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
‘Russia's Pearl Harbor' Fuels Fears Over Chinese Cargo Ships at US Ports
Sunday's Ukrainian drone ambush on a Russian airbase more than 3,000 miles from the front lines has intensified a growing debate among U.S. military analysts over the plausibility of a similar attack launched from Chinese merchant vessels docked at American ports. The scenario has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and security analysts alike following confirmation that COSCO Shipping-China's state-owned shipping giant-operates across key U.S. ports, despite being designated by the Department of Defense as a Chinese military company. At issue is whether drones or cruise missiles could be hidden in shipping containers aboard these vessels, activated remotely or after offloading, and used in a preemptive strike. "This is a very plausible form of attack in the U.S.," said Bryan Clark, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a former U.S. Navy officer. "But the attack would need to overcome several challenges," he told Newsweek. "The drones need to get out of the container, and that's hard to control aboard a ship. A more feasible approach would be to deploy the drones from a container once it's offloaded and moved on a truck." Retired Navy commander Thomas Shugart, now a fellow at the Center for a New American Security, has voiced a more urgent warning. "It is becoming borderline-insane that we routinely allow ships owned and operated by DoD-designated Chinese military companies to sit in our ports with thousands of containers onboard and under their control," Shugart said in a conversation with Newsweek. Shugart said the concept isn't speculative-it mirrors Chinese military writings. "Their Science of Campaigns is full of references to 'sudden' and 'surprise' strikes," he said, referring to a core text that Chinese military officers are expected to study. "They explicitly discuss hitting first, especially against what they call the 'powerful entity,' which is clearly a reference to the United States." The concerns are not just theoretical. In January, members of the House Committee on Homeland Security asked the U.S. Coast Guard for a classified briefing, citing COSCO's access to "major U.S. ports" and warning of risks including "espionage, cyber intrusions, sabotage, and supply chain disruptions," according to a letter sent in January. Zak Kallenborn, a researcher of drone and asymmetric warfare, acknowledged the technical possibility but questioned the timing. "A similar Chinese drone attack is definitely plausible and worth worrying about," he told Newsweek. "However, a Chinese attack is unlikely to come completely out of the blue. If China were to do this, we'd likely already be at war." Still, the lessons from Ukraine's recent drone strike on Russian airfields linger heavily in the minds of U.S. analysts and war planners grappling with the warp-speed progress of battlefield technological advancements like drone warfare. The operation on Sunday exposed how even hardened military targets can be neutralized by low-cost drones-deep inside a nuclear-armed adversary's territory where an enemy's conventional air power would be difficult to penetrate. For some of these experts, it raised uncomfortable parallels to U.S. vulnerabilities. Shugart said the U.S. shouldn't assume distance offers safety. "We've hardened some overseas air bases," he said. "But we still park billion-dollar aircraft in the open on our own soil. That's a risk." According to a March report from the Atlantic Council, China has developed and demonstrated containerized missile and drone platforms that can be covertly transported aboard commercial vessels. The report warned these systems could enable Beijing to establish "a covert way to establish anti-access/area denial nodes near major maritime choke points." Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb demonstrated how swarms of inexpensive, off-the-shelf drones-slightly modified to carry explosives and smuggled in wooden containers to be deployed remotely-can inflict billions of dollars in damage on strategic military assets, including long-range bombers. The contrast has fueled criticism of more traditional defense approaches, such as President Donald Trump's proposed "Golden Dome" missile shield, which analysts say may be poorly matched to emerging low-cost threats. The regulatory environment surrounding drones is also a major factor in the growing risk, experts say. "We don't have a drone transportation and logistics system," military theorist John Robb wrote on X. "The FAA strangled it in the crib a decade ago. If the FCC had regulated the internet the way we've handled drones, we'd still be using AOL." Robb advocates for a national drone framework with built-in security measures: "Monitoring, kill switches, no-fly zones, hardware and software rules, maintenance requirements, and corporate certification." In Congress, lawmakers continue to press the Coast Guard to ensure more stringent vetting of foreign vessels, crew members and cargo. "The vetting process must be consistent and comprehensive across all U.S. ports," the Homeland Security Committee wrote in its January request. The committee also raised concerns about Chinese political officers allegedly embedded aboard COSCO vessels, which it argued underscores direct Chinese Communist Party influence over ostensibly commercial operations. For analysts like Clark, the technology is only part of the equation. The more pressing concern is readiness. "If China believes it can use relatively small drones to cause major damage, and we've done nothing to detect or deter it, that's a vulnerability we can't afford to ignore," he said. Related Articles Putin Ally Says Ukraine Operation 'Grounds for Nuclear Attack'Are the Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks Going Anywhere? | OpinionSteve Bannon Says Lindsey Graham Should Be Arrested Over Ukraine SupportWhat 'Russia's Pearl Harbor' Says About Trump's Golden Dome 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
Newsweek
03-06-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
'Russia's Pearl Harbor' Fuels Fears Over Chinese Cargo Ships at US Ports
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Sunday's Ukrainian drone ambush on a Russian airbase more than 3,000 miles from the front lines has intensified a growing debate among U.S. military analysts over the plausibility of a similar attack launched from Chinese merchant vessels docked at American ports. The scenario has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and security analysts alike following confirmation that COSCO Shipping—China's state-owned shipping giant—operates across key U.S. ports, despite being designated by the Department of Defense as a Chinese military company. At issue is whether drones or cruise missiles could be hidden in shipping containers aboard these vessels, activated remotely or after offloading, and used in a preemptive strike. "This is a very plausible form of attack in the U.S.," said Bryan Clark, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a former U.S. Navy officer. "But the attack would need to overcome several challenges," he told Newsweek. "The drones need to get out of the container, and that's hard to control aboard a ship. A more feasible approach would be to deploy the drones from a container once it's offloaded and moved on a truck." In this image taken from video released June 1, 2025, by a source in the Ukrainian Security Service shows a Ukrainian drone striking Russian planes deep in Russia's territory. In this image taken from video released June 1, 2025, by a source in the Ukrainian Security Service shows a Ukrainian drone striking Russian planes deep in Russia's territory. AP Retired Navy commander Thomas Shugart, now a fellow at the Center for a New American Security, has voiced a more urgent warning. "It is becoming borderline-insane that we routinely allow ships owned and operated by DoD-designated Chinese military companies to sit in our ports with thousands of containers onboard and under their control," Shugart said in a conversation with Newsweek. Shugart said the concept isn't speculative—it mirrors Chinese military writings. "Their Science of Campaigns is full of references to 'sudden' and 'surprise' strikes," he said, referring to a core text that Chinese military officers are expected to study. "They explicitly discuss hitting first, especially against what they call the 'powerful entity,' which is clearly a reference to the United States." The concerns are not just theoretical. In January, members of the House Committee on Homeland Security asked the U.S. Coast Guard for a classified briefing, citing COSCO's access to "major U.S. ports" and warning of risks including "espionage, cyber intrusions, sabotage, and supply chain disruptions," according to a letter sent in January. Vulnerabilities Can Be Exploited Zak Kallenborn, a researcher of drone and asymmetric warfare, acknowledged the technical possibility but questioned the timing. "A similar Chinese drone attack is definitely plausible and worth worrying about," he told Newsweek. "However, a Chinese attack is unlikely to come completely out of the blue. If China were to do this, we'd likely already be at war." Shipping containers, including those from COSCO, a Chinese state-owned shipping and logistics company await transportation on a rail line at the Port of Long Beach on July 12, 2018 in Long Beach, California. Shipping containers, including those from COSCO, a Chinese state-owned shipping and logistics company await transportation on a rail line at the Port of Long Beach on July 12, 2018 in Long Beach, California. FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images Still, the lessons from Ukraine's recent drone strike on Russian airfields linger heavily in the minds of U.S. analysts and war planners grappling with the warp-speed progress of battlefield technological advancements like drone warfare. The operation on Sunday exposed how even hardened military targets can be neutralized by low-cost drones—deep inside a nuclear-armed adversary's territory where an enemy's conventional air power would be difficult to penetrate. For some of these experts, it raised uncomfortable parallels to U.S. vulnerabilities. Shugart said the U.S. shouldn't assume distance offers safety. "We've hardened some overseas air bases," he said. "But we still park billion-dollar aircraft in the open on our own soil. That's a risk." According to a March report from the Atlantic Council, China has developed and demonstrated containerized missile and drone platforms that can be covertly transported aboard commercial vessels. The report warned these systems could enable Beijing to establish "a covert way to establish anti-access/area denial nodes near major maritime choke points." A Regulatory Blindspot Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb demonstrated how swarms of inexpensive, off-the-shelf drones—slightly modified to carry explosives and smuggled in wooden containers to be deployed remotely—can inflict billions of dollars in damage on strategic military assets, including long-range bombers. The contrast has fueled criticism of more traditional defense approaches, such as President Donald Trump's proposed "Golden Dome" missile shield, which analysts say may be poorly matched to emerging low-cost threats. What if I told you that as I type this there was a vessel, associated with the Chinese PLA, that *could* be equipped with many dozens of anti-ship cruise missiles—and was parked less than 4 miles from the bulk of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Well guess what: it's happening—for real. — Tom Shugart (@tshugart3) August 22, 2024 The regulatory environment surrounding drones is also a major factor in the growing risk, experts say. "We don't have a drone transportation and logistics system," military theorist John Robb wrote on X. "The FAA strangled it in the crib a decade ago. If the FCC had regulated the internet the way we've handled drones, we'd still be using AOL." Robb advocates for a national drone framework with built-in security measures: "Monitoring, kill switches, no-fly zones, hardware and software rules, maintenance requirements, and corporate certification." In Congress, lawmakers continue to press the Coast Guard to ensure more stringent vetting of foreign vessels, crew members and cargo. "The vetting process must be consistent and comprehensive across all U.S. ports," the Homeland Security Committee wrote in its January request. The committee also raised concerns about Chinese political officers allegedly embedded aboard COSCO vessels, which it argued underscores direct Chinese Communist Party influence over ostensibly commercial operations. For analysts like Clark, the technology is only part of the equation. The more pressing concern is readiness. "If China believes it can use relatively small drones to cause major damage, and we've done nothing to detect or deter it, that's a vulnerability we can't afford to ignore," he said.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
A European defense startup is making drone submarines that can lurk underwater for 3 months at a time
German defense tech startup Helsing is working on a fleet of AI-equipped underwater sea drones. It said they can operate for three-month stretches, with hundreds controlled by a single operator. The news comes as NATO seeks to shore up the defense of vital subsea cable infrastructure. German military tech startup Helsing said it is readying a fleet of undersea drones amid intensifying threats to subsea cables, and said they'd be ready to deploy in around a year. The uncrewed submarine, the SG-1 Fathom, would be able to patrol and stay underwater for up to three months at a time, it said. In a statement Tuesday, the company said that its AI Lura software detects subsea threats and can identify ship and submarine models from their underwater sound patterns. It claimed the software operates 40x faster than human operators, and is 10x quieter than other models, meaning it's better able to evade detection. "We must harness new technologies to keep pace with the threats against our critical infrastructure, national waters, and way of life," said Gundbert Scherf, cofounder and co-CEO of Helsing. Hundreds of the drones could be deployed at the same time, controlled by a single operator, the company said, monitoring undersea regions for threats and relaying live data. Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC, told BI that underwater drones such as the ones being developed by Helsing "would be effective at monitoring underwater infrastructure." He added that each drone's detection range is "quite short," but that the system is designed to manage dozens or even hundreds at a time. Clark also said that underwater drones could be vulnerable to electronic jamming, which could impact their navigation systems and cause them to get "lost." Helsing's announcement comes amid intensifying threats to networks of subsea cables crucial for carrying internet data. European officials blamed Russia for a series of subsea cable severances in the Baltic late last year and in January, which some said was part of the Kremlin's "hybrid warfare" campaign. In September, Business Insider reported that a specialist Russian submarine sabotage unit had been surveilling subsea cables. NATO has formed its own special unit to better defend critical underwater infrastructure, and has also said it's developing new satellite technology so that data can be rerouted in the event of a massive disruption. European militaries are also testing and deploying sea drones as part of their bid to increase undersea monitoring and shore up defenses. The UK's military, as part of its Project Cabot, is testing new drone and AI technology to monitor underwater infrastructure, and is working with Helsing on the project, The Times of London reported Tuesday. Helsing has already produced AI systems and aerial drone systems for European militaries, and was valued at $5.4 billion during a funding round last year. It said it had developed the sea drones following interest from several navies, and had tested them at a naval base in the south of England. "Deploying AI to the edge of underwater constellations will illuminate the oceans and deter our adversaries, for a strong Europe," Helsing's Scherf said. Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
15-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
A European defence startup is making drone submarines that can lurk underwater for 3 months at a time
German military tech startup Helsing said it is readying a fleet of undersea drones amid intensifying threats to subsea cables, and said they'd be ready to deploy in around a year. The uncrewed submarine, the SG-1 Fathom, would be able to patrol and stay underwater for up to three months at a time, it said. In a statement Tuesday, the company said that its AI Lura software detects subsea threats and can identify ship and submarine models from their underwater sound patterns. It claimed the software operates 40x faster than human operators, and is 10x quieter than other models, meaning it's better able to evade detection. "We must harness new technologies to keep pace with the threats against our critical infrastructure, national waters, and way of life," said Gundbert Scherf, cofounder and co-CEO of Helsing. Hundreds of the drones could be deployed at the same time, controlled by a single operator, the company said, monitoring undersea regions for threats and relaying live data. Bryan Clark, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC, told BI that underwater drones such as the ones being developed by Helsing "would be effective at monitoring underwater infrastructure." He added that each drone's detection range is "quite short," but that the system is designed to manage dozens or even hundreds at a time. Clark also said that underwater drones could be vulnerable to electronic jamming, which could impact their navigation systems and cause them to get "lost." Helsing's announcement comes amid intensifying threats to networks of subsea cables crucial for carrying internet data. European officials blamed Russia for a series of subsea cable severances in the Baltic late last year and in January, which some said was part of the Kremlin's "hybrid warfare" campaign. In September, Business Insider reported that a specialist Russian submarine sabotage unit had been surveilling subsea cables. NATO has formed its own special unit to better defend critical underwater infrastructure, and has also said it's developing new satellite technology so that data can be rerouted in the event of a massive disruption. European militaries are also testing and deploying sea drones as part of their bid to increase undersea monitoring and shore up defenses. The UK's military, as part of its Project Cabot, is testing new drone and AI technology to monitor underwater infrastructure, and is working with Helsing on the project, The Times of London reported Tuesday. Helsing has already produced AI systems and aerial drone systems for European militaries, and was valued at $5.4 billion during a funding round last year. It said it had developed the sea drones following interest from several navies, and had tested them at a naval base in the south of England. "Deploying AI to the edge of underwater constellations will illuminate the oceans and deter our adversaries, for a strong Europe," Helsing's Scherf said.
