A new generation of FPV drones

The Ministry of Defence just tested a new generation of FPV drones. The results change the battlefield calculus. Range: up to 25 kilometres. Electronic warfare resistance: operational under multiple types of EW jamming. The Ministry of Defence conducted the trials jointly with Brave1 — Ukraine's defence tech cluster — with eight Ukrainian manufacturers participating. 

A significant share of the systems completed all assigned tasks under conditions designed to replicate actual combat environments. Standard FPV drones operate at 5–10 km and are vulnerable to Russian electronic warfare jamming — one of the primary countermeasures Russia has deployed to degrade Ukraine's drone effectiveness. These new systems extend that range by two to five times and function through the jamming that grounds conventional FPVs. The MoD has restructured the entire pipeline from test to deployment: Codification procedures simplified — cutting the bureaucratic path from development to front-line use. 80% of resources directed at battlefield-proven solutions. 20% reserved for emerging technologies. 

Manufacturers without existing state contracts are now included in testing. Separate testing methodologies developed for each drone class. The principle is binary: if a drone confirms effectiveness in trials — contracting begins immediately and scaling follows. "Our task is to ensure accelerated supply so that units receive effective tools immediately after result confirmation." — Minister of Defence Mykhailo Fedorov

Why this matters in the broader context of the war: Russia's primary counter to Ukraine's FPV dominance has been electronic warfare — deploying jamming systems that cut the signal between operator and drone. Ukraine has been adapting constantly: fibre-optic drones that cannot be jammed, AI-enabled autonomous navigation, frequency-hopping systems. This new generation represents the latest iteration of that adaptation cycle — drones that operate at extended range and resist the jamming Russia has specifically developed to defeat them. The war between Ukrainian drone innovation and Russian electronic warfare countermeasures is the defining technological contest of this war. Ukraine just moved the line. — Source: Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, April 2026