Having transitioned to private-sector work, Mykhailo Fedorov is pursuing an ambitious strategy to speed up the development of robotic warfare systems by funding emerging companies, creating proprietary technologies, and collaborating with military forces to validate solutions in the field.
At the IT Arena conference in Lviv over the weekend, Fedorov—a former Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Digital Transformation, and Minister of Defence—unveiled the Army of Robots initiative. The project is actively recruiting defencetech firms, robotics engineers, and a CTO or technical leader to guide its direction.
Building on the Drone Success Story
Fedorov drew parallels to the Army of Drones, which launched in 2022 and has since reshaped how Ukraine conducts military operations.
Back then, few people could imagine just how profoundly unmanned systems would change warfare. Today, drones account for more than 95 per cent of strikes, and Ukraine already has more than 700 UAV manufacturers.
Mykhailo Fedorov
Yet technological advancement in conflict never pauses, Fedorov contended, and Ukraine must now pursue its next major leap forward.
Robotisation of the battlefield represents his next strategic focus.
The core purpose of the Army of Robots, according to Fedorov, is straightforward: preserving the lives of military personnel.
Robots should do the most dangerous work so our service members can come home.
Mykhailo Fedorov
His vision encompasses a combat environment where detection systems identify dangers first, then robotic units—including humanoid designs—move into hazardous zones to retrieve injured troops, transport supplies, handle mine operations, gather intelligence, hold territory, and engage targets.
Be the first to enter places where today we put our service members' lives at risk.
Mykhailo Fedorov
Rather than a single focused project, the Army of Robots is structured as a complete ecosystem. Fedorov's team intends to provide capital to defencetech enterprises, establish proprietary technology ventures, develop research infrastructure, validate technologies alongside military partners, and rapidly expand systems that demonstrate battlefield effectiveness.
This effort extends earlier announcements from August regarding a fresh defence technology investment vehicle. Unlike traditional venture capital structures, this fund will simultaneously back existing Ukrainian defencetech companies and establish new ventures around technologies deemed essential for modern combat. Initial priority areas encompass battlefield robotics, jet-powered interceptor drones, and affordable AI-enabled missile systems.
Alex Karp, chief executive of Palantir, subsequently became the fund's inaugural lead investor. Through this arrangement, Fedorov seeks to channel global capital and technical expertise into Ukraine's defence sector while reducing the timeframe from identifying a military requirement to developing and deploying a solution at scale.
"Make robots fight instead of people"
Fedorov recognises that Ukraine faces a significant obstacle: Russia's capacity to rapidly replicate and manufacture military innovations.
That means we must constantly create the next technology cycle before the enemy does.
Mykhailo Fedorov
To make that happen, we need to bring together the best engineers, battlefield experience, capital and technology — and focus them on one goal. Make robots fight instead of people.
Mykhailo Fedorov
From his current position outside government, Fedorov continues advancing the technological warfare doctrine he championed while in office, framed around the concept "AIR. LAND. ECONOMY." Robotics, in his assessment, represents a domain where Ukraine could achieve its next substantial technological advantage.
The Battlefield as Laboratory
The Army of Robots sits within a wider Ukrainian defence innovation framework increasingly centred on narrowing the gap between combat operations and research facilities.
TrophyLab, established by Ukraine's Ministry of Defense in June, exemplifies this approach. The platform transforms seized Russian military equipment into a research asset, granting authorised defence firms, scientific teams, military units, and allied organisations access to technical specifications, research data, and analysis of Russian weaponry, plus the option to request hands-on inspection of confiscated hardware.
For defencetech startups, this arrangement essentially creates a functioning battlefield test environment. Organisations developing counter-drone capabilities, electromagnetic countermeasures, autonomous systems, sensor networks, information systems, and comparable military technologies can examine actual adversary gear and engineer responses to it, potentially compressing development timelines substantially.
Source: Tech.eu
