UFORCE, Ukraine's inaugural defense technology unicorn, has completed 150,000 combat missions as unmanned warfare becomes commercialized.

      **TL;DR**

      UFORCE, a defence technology startup based in Ukraine and the UK, formed from the merger of nine companies, has executed over 150,000 combat missions, reached a valuation of over a billion dollars, and is reportedly involved in the first military operation in history where territory was claimed solely with the use of robots and drones. As unmanned warfare transitions from theory to practical application, the company is ramping up production.

      In April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed that for the first time in military history, his forces had taken an enemy position using only unmanned systems—without infantry or human soldiers. Drones and ground robots identified the target, countered defensive fire, and secured the area without any Ukrainian casualties. Although this claim has not been independently confirmed in detail, and the military has not provided specifics, UFORCE, at the heart of the operation, has completed more than 150,000 combat missions since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. It has achieved unicorn status with a valuation exceeding one billion dollars and is scaling production from a discreet headquarters in London, which the company claims is designed to safeguard against Russian sabotage. Unmanned warfare is no longer a theoretical concept but a tangible item on the defence contractors' balance sheets.

      **The company**

      UFORCE was established by merging nine Ukrainian defence firms that had been working together during the conflict. It is led by Oleg Rogynskyy, the former founder of People.ai, and Oleksii Honcharuk, a former Ukrainian Prime Minister. The company designs drones for air, sea, and land, employs over 1,000 engineers, developers, and operators across six European nations, and reported a 450% increase in bookings for 2025. In March, it secured 50 million dollars at a valuation surpassing one billion, becoming Ukraine’s first defence technology unicorn. Ukraine has become the testing ground for military robots, and UFORCE has effectively converted this opportunity into a commercial success.

      The company's product range covers various areas of the conflict. UFORCE's MAGURA maritime drones have targeted over 12 Russian warships in the Black Sea, including the first recorded instance of an unmanned surface vessel downing a manned helicopter and fighter jet. Its Nemesis strike drones are designed for precision attacks, and its land-based systems use software-assisted targeting to engage enemy locations. UFORCE also develops counter-drone technology and battlefield management software that synchronizes operations across multiple unmanned platforms. The figure of 150,000 combat missions represents operations in air, sea, and land since 2022, a deployment scale unmatched by any Western defence technology company, including larger competitors like Anduril Industries.

      **The operation**

      Zelensky’s April video showcased various Ukrainian-developed robotic weapon systems, including Ratel, TerMIT, Ardal, Rys, Zmiy, Protector, and Volia ground robots, which collectively executed over 22,000 missions in just three months. The president emphasized that unmanned systems had captured territory that would have resulted in human casualties. Rhiannon Padley, UFORCE’s UK director of strategic partnerships, did not comment on the specific operation highlighted in Zelensky’s video but confirmed that the company’s drones are actively used in combat. She noted that the trend of robots battling robots is increasing and predicted that unmanned systems will eventually outnumber human soldiers in warfare.

      Russia is also deploying its unmanned ground systems to deliver explosives into Ukrainian positions. Both factions are engaged in an arms race where the development cycle has shortened dramatically, with rapid field modifications, software upgrades, and new platform designs being developed at a pace that traditional defence procurement processes cannot handle. The rise in European defence stocks reflects the market's acknowledgment that military technology is transitioning from hardware-based solutions developed over decades to software-defined systems updated within months, making the companies behind these innovations resemble tech startups rather than traditional defence giants like BAE Systems or Lockheed Martin.

      **The industry**

      UFORCE belongs to a new wave of so-called neo-prime defence firms challenging established contractors. Anduril Industries, founded by Oculus VR co-creator Palmer Luckey, conducted its first test flight of an autonomous fighter jet in February, secured billions in US military contracts, and is building Arsenal-1, a billion-dollar manufacturing facility in Ohio with a production capacity of 5 million square feet. Ukrainian drone startups are increasingly aiming to convert wartime technology into dual-use commercial applications, and the wider European defence technology sector raised 2.3 billion euros in 2025, more than doubling the investment from 2024, with German startups acquiring 90 percent of the continent's defence technology funding in the first half of the year.

      Europe's military AI capabilities are being shaped by partnerships between AI labs and defence specialists, exemplified by the collaboration between Helsing, a