'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 present being hunted by weapons built conscionable miles distant — wrong hidden factories wherever erstwhile students and bureau workers assemble kamikaze drones and interceptor systems astir the clock.

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

"Drone exertion wholly changed the concern successful the frontline," Lviv Mayor, Andriy Sadovyi, told Fox News Digital successful an exclusive interview, "Maybe successful six months, possibly successful 1 year, we volition 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 determination successful occidental Ukraine. (Efrat Lachter/Fox News Digital.)

"If we volition person much heavy collaboration betwixt Ukraine, the United States, Israel and Europe, we volition hole peculiar instrumentality for our victory," helium said.

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

Cheap drones present let tiny battlefield units to place and destruct tanks, armored vehicles and adjacent blase aerial defence systems that erstwhile required costly missiles oregon combatant aircraft.

That translation is disposable passim occidental Ukraine, wherever defence exertion hubs, concealed workshops and investigating facilities present operate, portion successful the cities aerial raid sirens regularly interrupt regular life.

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

Inside the store Fox News Digital visited, workers moved rapidly betwixt tables stacked with propellers, fiber-optic cablegram and different classified drone components. The workers accidental they nary longer spot themselves arsenic civilians temporarily helping the warfare effort. Many present presumption drone accumulation arsenic indispensable to Ukraine’s survival.

Vitaliy, 1 of the technicians assembling kamikaze drones destined for the beforehand line, said helium present builds hundreds of drone components a day. "Targets volition beryllium vehicles, tanks, troopers, positions," helium told Fox News Digital.

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

Referring to President Donald Trump's connection that helium volition extremity the war, Vitaliy said, "I consciousness honored due to the fact that 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," helium said.

Ukraine’s home drone accumulation has expanded astatine a staggering pace. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Serhiy Boev said earlier this twelvemonth the state aims 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 defence exertion hub successful Lviv, rows of interceptor drones, unmanned crushed vehicles and remotely operated weapons systems capable a showroom demonstrating Ukraine’s rapidly evolving battlefield ecosystem.

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

Some drones are designed for reconnaissance. Others for evacuation, logistics oregon nonstop onslaught missions. One heavy-lift drone utilized for nighttime attacks has earned the 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 privation our data, feedback from the beforehand line," Dmytro said. 

The remains of a Russian-made, Iran-designed Shahed-136 drone, known successful Russia arsenic a Geran-2, are displayed with 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 raid sirens repeatedly echoed crossed the city, a reminder that occidental Ukraine remains wrong scope of Russia’s expanding drone campaign.

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

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

But the 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 the airspace of Baltic confederation members including Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, triggering governmental fallout and renewed concerns astir determination aerial defenses. Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds resigned aft drones crashed adjacent substance retention facilities adjacent to the 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 the drones disconnected course, arguing Moscow is progressively utilizing physics warfare not lone defensively, but besides to make instability and governmental unit wrong NATO countries.

The incidents underscore however the 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 the battlefield itself.