Ukraine’s battlefields are changing at breakneck speed, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the skies above the country. On August 16, 2025, Ukrainian defense officials unveiled the Besomar 3210, a reusable interceptor drone, at the Iron Demo 2025 defense exhibition in Lviv. The presentation was not just a show of technological prowess—it was a direct response to the relentless barrage of Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that have come to define modern warfare on the Eastern European front.
According to Army Recognition, the Besomar 3210 is far from an ordinary drone. Unlike single-use kamikaze models, this catapult-launched device is designed to return to base after its mission, offering both sustainability and cost-effectiveness. With an endurance of one hour and a top speed of 200 km/h, it’s built for rapid response and repeated use. But the real innovation lies in its nose: a 12-gauge shotgun, paired with a thermal camera and an automated firing mechanism. The system can fire automatically once a target enters its engagement zone, but only with pilot authorization, boosting the chances of intercepting fast-moving enemy drones.
This new tool arrives at a critical moment. Kyiv reported over 6,000 Russian drone launches in July 2025 alone, with approximately 15,700 drones deployed over the past three months. Many of these attacks involved the Geran-2, Russia’s adaptation of Iran’s Shahed-136, which has become a staple in Moscow’s efforts to saturate Ukrainian air defenses. The scale of these attacks is staggering, and Ukraine’s response must be equally ambitious.
The Besomar 3210’s armament is tailored for close encounters: it currently holds two cartridges, with the option to double the load, and is most effective within about 20 meters. Each cartridge releases multiple projectiles, increasing the odds of a successful intercept. Notably, the firing system is recoil-free, maintaining stability during engagement—a crucial factor when targeting nimble adversaries in the air.
But the challenges go beyond physical interception. Russia’s drones are increasingly equipped with sophisticated electronic countermeasures, making them harder to jam or track. To counteract this, the Besomar 3210 uses frequency-hopping spread spectrum communications, a technology that reduces vulnerability to jamming and detection. This feature is critical as both sides escalate their electronic warfare capabilities.
Meanwhile, Russia isn’t standing still. The Geran-2 is being continually upgraded with better guidance systems and enhanced protection, and Russian production capabilities are projected to reach a staggering 40,000 units in 2025. In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has set an ambitious production goal of 1,000 Ukrainian interceptor systems per day—a number that dwarfs Russia’s estimated daily output of 170 Geran-2 drones. This arms race is as much about manufacturing capacity as it is about engineering ingenuity.
Ukraine’s approach to air defense is multi-layered. The Besomar 3210 does not replace traditional missile-based systems but instead adds a flexible, reusable layer to the country’s defenses. Multiple Ukrainian firms are in the race, developing everything from quadcopters armed with multi-barrel shotguns to jet-powered interceptors. The landscape of drone warfare is evolving so rapidly that, as Emil Michael, the U.S. under secretary of Defense for research and engineering, remarked to NewsNation, "these drones are changing in capabilities every three-to-four weeks, which is staggering, right?"
Michael’s observations, delivered during the Technology Readiness Experimentation (TREX) event in Indiana, highlight how the conflict in Ukraine is influencing military thinking far beyond its borders. The U.S., long a leader in large, complex unmanned systems like the Predator and Reaper, has found itself lagging in the production of smaller, inexpensive drones that have become the hallmark of the Ukraine and Middle East conflicts. The Pentagon is now using events like TREX to accelerate the development and deployment of such systems, hoping to catch up with adversaries like China, Russia, and Iran.
One of the most striking lessons from the Ukraine war, according to Michael, is the new role of warfighters in the innovation loop. Instead of waiting for defense contractors to deliver finished products, Ukrainian soldiers on the ground are actively tweaking, programming, and experimenting with drones to meet the immediate demands of the battlefield. As Michael put it, "the warfighters, the people who are actually operating these drones are the ones who are actually improving them. They’re in some cases writing software. They’re saying, ‘well, what if we do this?’ And they’re doing the experimentation at the very lowest level of the warfighter. That’s a totally new way of thinking."
This grassroots approach to innovation is a sharp departure from traditional military procurement, where new weapons are typically delivered complete and troops are trained to use them as-is. Now, adaptability and improvisation are the order of the day, with frontline operators shaping the evolution of the technology in real time. "Now we’re going to rely on the warfighters to be part of the innovation loop. And that’s what the war in Ukraine and Russia taught us," Michael emphasized.
Drone warfare has become the new front line in conflicts around the globe, not just in Ukraine. The technology has featured prominently in Israel’s recent operations in the Middle East, and its impact was dramatically demonstrated in June 2025 during Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb. In that operation, Kyiv reportedly smuggled hundreds of small drones deep inside Russia for a coordinated strike that destroyed upwards of 40 Russian warplanes on five airbases—a testament to the reach and effectiveness of these new weapons.
Ukraine’s focus on innovation is attracting international collaboration as well. German manufacturer Quantum Systems announced plans on August 11, 2025, to begin serial production of its “Sparta” mothership drone in Ukraine by the end of the year. Sparta is designed to carry modular payloads, including other drones, and boasts a flight endurance of six to eight hours. Like the Besomar 3210, it will be catapult-launched, emphasizing the trend toward reusable, flexible platforms that can adapt to rapidly shifting battlefield conditions.
As Russian drone strikes on Ukrainian cities have only grown in intensity since early 2025, Ukraine’s relentless push to innovate and adapt is more than just a technological race—it’s a matter of survival. The skies above Ukraine have become a proving ground for the future of warfare, where machines and humans collaborate in a high-stakes contest of ingenuity, resilience, and determination. The lessons being learned are shaping not only Ukraine’s defense but also the strategies of militaries around the world as they prepare for an era where the front lines are drawn in silicon and software as much as in steel and blood.
