Ukraine is world’s live testing ground for future of warfare — expert

Mykhailo Samus, director of the New Geopolitics Research Network and co-founder of the Defense Information Consortium, stated this on Espreso TV.

“In Europe, there is a growing realization that the Russian threat is not an episode, but a long-term geopolitical reality, so it is necessary to radically strengthen their own defense capabilities. And a key element of this process should be deep and systematic integration between the Ukrainian defense-industrial complex and the European defense ecosystem,” the expert notes.

The expert draws attention to a new EU financial initiative—SAFE (Security Action for Europe)—which was approved by the EU Council in May 2025. The program allows for the mobilization of up to €150 billion for joint procurement, scaling up production, and investing in critically important defense technologies. For the first time in EU history, such a program has been opened to a third country—Ukraine—almost on equal terms. However, new requirements have also emerged: at least 65% of the components of products funded under SAFE must originate from the EU or accredited partner countries. This means that Ukrainian companies will have to either localize part of their production in Europe or build flexible cooperation mechanisms with European structures.

According to the expert, a joint Ukrainian-European initiative such as BraveTech EU could become the driving force for rapid integration, which envisions the inclusion of Ukrainian companies not as subcontractors or external consultants, but as equal partners.

“With BraveTech EU, for the first time in EU history, a separate joint hub for defense startups is being formed—a space where innovations are not only created but immediately scaled to meet the needs of the real front. Even at the start, we are talking about breakthrough technologies: autonomous combat systems, means of countering precision-guided aerial bombs (KABs), drones controlled via fiber-optic cable—all of these are not projects for the future, but real responses to today’s war that need to be implemented on the battlefield immediately,” Samus comments. He emphasizes that the Ukrainian front today is a global testing ground for future technologies: from swarms of FPV drones and tactical AI algorithms to cyber strikes and hybrid fire control solutions.

At the beginning of the project, Ukraine and the EU are investing €50 million each in joint initiatives. It is planned that the fund will operate with larger sums in the future, as there are already countries ready to join BraveTech EU.

“Today, Ukraine is a functioning laboratory for the war of the future. And if Europe truly wants to achieve strategic autonomy, it needs not just to invest in Ukrainian technologies—it needs to invest in Ukrainians as equal partners. Because it is through Ukraine that the new strategic line of Europe’s defense runs,” the expert concludes.