Ukraine seeks millions of UAVs and recommends NATO does too

Granta Autonomy's X-Wing VTOL UAV loitering munition was demonstrated at Räyskälä airfield in Finland on 9 December 2025 during TFX EFDL. (Janes/Nicholas Fiorenza)

Senior Lieutenant Oleksandr Voitko, deputy commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine's 13th Unmanned Systems Forces Regiment, told international journalists including Janes covering the NATO Task Force X Eastern Flank Deterrence Line (TFX EFDL) technical demonstration at Räyskälä airfield in Finland on 9 December that Ukraine requires unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), missiles, and combat aircraft.

He spoke of Ukraine's requirement for millions of ‘kamikaze drones' and recommended that NATO procure a similar number of inexpensive UAVs. Asked by Janes about Western analysts' estimate that it takes up to 100 first-person view (FPV) UAVs to destroy a tank, he replied that the actual number was up to 10.

Among the UAVs demonstrated at Räyskälä was the X-Wing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) loitering munition from Granta Autonomy of Lithuania with a 4 kg warhead and 20x zoom day/night camera with a 2 km range designed as both a counter-unmanned aircraft system and a strike UAV for use against ground targets. The UAV was launched to a high altitude before descending and returning to its launch location and being caught by someone just before it would have touched down.

Granta Autonomy said X-Wing had just been tested before the deployment of a few 100 systems to Ukraine in February–March 2026. An X-Wing system consists of a ground control system and two UAVs.