France’s defense innovations, including systems for combating drones, may be tested in the context of defensive operations in Ukraine.
According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation, the French delegation presented their innovative developments in the defense-tech sphere – drone interceptors, electronic warfare means, and products in the field of biotechnology and medical assistance.
Oleksandr Bornyakov, Deputy Minister, met with the French delegation headed by the Defense Innovation Agency under the leadership of the Armed Forces Ministry’s Armaments Directorate. They reportedly discussed the prospects for expanding cooperation between Brave1 and the Defense Innovation Agency.
In October 2023, Ukraine’s Minister for Strategic Industries, Oleksandr Kamyshin, announced plans to increase drone production to tens of thousands of various types – mainly small FPV kamikaze drones – per month by the end of the year.
The production of domestic drones helps Ukraine to hit Russian industry infrastructure. Ukraine intensified its offensive against Russia’s oil infrastructure to disrupt fuel supplies to the Russian military and reduce the Kremlin’s war-funding revenues from petroleum exports.
CNN reported in early April that Ukraine’s AI-enabled drones are disrupting Moscow’s oil-refining industry in a concerted effort to undermine a crucial revenue stream funding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin cautioned that Ukraine’s recent attacks on Russian oil refineries risk impacting the delicate balance the US has sought to maintain between squeezing Russia’s energy exports and keeping global markets adequately supplied to manage inflation and support a soft landing for the world economy.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the reaction of the US of Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries “was not positive on this.”
However, Zelenskyy said, “Washington couldn’t limit Ukraine’s deployment of its home-built weapons…We used our drones. Nobody can say to us you can’t,” he added.
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