'A new kind of war': Inside Ukraine's hidden factories mass-producing combat drones

LVIV, Ukraine: Exclusive — The aforesaid Iranian-designed Shahed drones that rainfall down Lviv successful Ukraine astir each nighttime are now being hunted by weapons built conscionable miles distant — wrong hidden factories wherever erstwhile students and agency workers combine kamikaze drones and interceptor systems astir nan clock.

What began arsenic an improvised wartime effort has evolved into 1 of nan world's fastest-growing military drone industries — 1 Ukrainian charismatic says Kyiv now leads NATO successful battlefield invention and tin connection hard-won lessons for nan U.S. and Israel arsenic they face nan aforesaid Iranian drone exertion crossed nan Gulf.

"Drone exertion wholly changed nan business successful nan frontline," Lviv Mayor, Andriy Sadovyi, told Fox News Digital successful an exclusive interview, "Maybe successful six months, possibly successful 1 year, we will person exertion to onshore 1,000 drones successful 1 moment.

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Ukrainian-made drones were displayed astatine a subject exertion accumulation successful an undisclosed location successful occidental Ukraine. (Efrat Lachter/Fox News Digital.)

"If we will person much heavy collaboration betwixt Ukraine, nan United States, Israel and Europe, we will hole typical instrumentality for our victory," he said.

Dmytro, CEO of a Ukrainian drone shaper producing astir 1,000 drones a week, told Fox News Digital, "We are 3 aliases 4 steps up of different countries…this is simply a caller benignant of war," he said. "It is simply a war of IT technology."

Cheap drones now let mini battlefield units to place and destruct tanks, armored vehicles and moreover blase aerial defense systems that erstwhile required costly missiles aliases combatant aircraft.

That translator is visible passim occidental Ukraine, wherever defense exertion hubs, concealed workshops and testing accommodation now operate, while successful nan cities aerial ambush sirens regularly interrupt regular life.

Drone components and battlefield systems assembled astatine a Ukrainian manufacturing installation successful an undisclosed location successful occidental Ukraine. (Efrat Lachter/Fox News Digital)

Inside nan shop Fox News Digital visited, workers moved quickly betwixt tables stacked pinch propellers, fiber-optic cablegram and different classified drone components. The workers opportunity they nary longer spot themselves arsenic civilians temporarily helping nan warfare effort. Many now position drone accumulation arsenic essential to Ukraine’s survival.

Vitaliy, 1 of nan technicians assembling kamikaze drones destined for nan beforehand line, said he now builds hundreds of drone components a day. "Targets will beryllium vehicles, tanks, troopers, positions," he told Fox News Digital.

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A worker launches an RQ-35 Heidrun drone utilized for reconnaissance and artillery occurrence correction successful nan Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine connected Feb. 22, 2026.  (Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Referring to President Donald Trump's connection that he will extremity nan war, Vitaliy said, "I consciousness honored because I’m helping my state to get bid overmuch faster," Vitaliy added. "Peace done spot — this is our motivation. But it is mostly connected us, for sure," he said.

Ukraine’s home drone accumulation has expanded astatine a staggering pace. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Serhiy Boev said earlier this twelvemonth nan state intends to nutrient much than 7 cardinal drones successful 2026, up from astir 4 cardinal successful 2025.

From AI-assisted battlefield systems to drones resistant to Russian physics warfare, Ukraine’s wartime innovations are exposing vulnerabilities successful accepted Western subject doctrine.

At different defense exertion hub successful Lviv, rows of interceptor drones, unmanned crushed vehicles and remotely operated weapons systems capable a showroom demonstrating Ukraine’s quickly evolving battlefield ecosystem.

"We person astir 250 tech companies successful nan system," said Volodymyr Cherniuk, co-founder of Iron, a Ukrainian defense exertion cluster.

Some drones are designed for reconnaissance. Others for evacuation, logistics aliases nonstop onslaught missions. One heavy-lift drone utilized for nighttime attacks has earned nan nickname "Baba Yaga" from Russian troops, which Cherniuk translated arsenic "boogeyman."

Another interceptor drone is designed specifically to hunt Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia uses successful nightly attacks connected Ukrainian cities.

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"They tin spell 300 kilometers per hour," Cherniuk said. "One 100 grams is capable to unopen down a Shahed."

"We person a batch of Americans, Canadians, Europeans who travel present and want our data, feedback from nan beforehand line," Dmytro said. 

The remains of a Russian-made, Iran-designed Shahed-136 drone, known successful Russia arsenic a Geran-2, are displayed pinch different recovered drones, glide bombs, missiles and rockets successful Kharkiv connected July 30, 2025. (Scott Peterson/Getty Images)

As Fox News Digital reported from Lviv, aerial ambush sirens many times echoed crossed nan city, a reminder that occidental Ukraine remains wrong scope of Russia’s expanding drone campaign.

Russia has dramatically escalated its aerial assaults successful nan caller week aft nan extremity of nan short ceasefire, launching massive drone barrages targeting cities and logistical hubs crossed Ukraine, including areas adjacent NATO territory adjacent to nan Polish border.

Ukraine has besides progressively demonstrated its expertise to onslaught heavy wrong Russian territory pinch long-range drone attacks targeting areas astir Moscow and Russian power infrastructure.

But nan evolving drone warfare has besides progressively spilled beyond Ukraine and Russia’s borders into NATO territory.

In caller weeks, drones linked to Ukrainian long-range onslaught operations entered nan airspace of Baltic confederation members including Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, triggering governmental fallout and renewed concerns astir location air defenses. Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds resigned aft drones collapsed adjacent substance retention accommodation adjacent to nan Russian border.

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A Russian works assembling Iranian Shahed drones is targeted successful a wide Ukrainian drone onslaught connected Tatarstan (East2West)

Ukrainian and Baltic officials blamed Russian physics warfare and GPS spoofing for redirecting nan drones disconnected course, arguing Moscow is progressively utilizing physics warfare not only defensively, but besides to create instability and governmental unit wrong NATO countries.

The incidents underscore really nan aforesaid Iranian-designed Shahed drones Russia uses nightly against Ukrainian cities — and akin long-range drone technologies progressively utilized by some sides — are reshaping modern warfare acold beyond nan battlefield itself.