Nearly three years into full-scale war with Russia, Ukraine’s military has morphed significantly since Moscow’s forces first crossed over to invade its neighbor.
Kyiv’s military started off as a Soviet-era force, but has since absorbed Western technology and pushed for new, domestically-made military equipment to backfill its losses and improve on the older assets.
Fighter Jets and Other Aircraft
In the early months of 2023, Ukraine received deliveries of the Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets the country’s military was well accustomed to using from Slovakia and Poland.
But Kyiv, after loud and consistent lobbying for Western fighter jets, finally unveiled that it was using U.S.-made F-16 fourth-generation aircraft in August 2024. The expensive jets, provided by Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Norway, were arguably the biggest aid commitment of the war and required extensive pilot and ground-crew training, as well as lots of new infrastructure and planning.
Ukraine has lost at least one F-16, which was inevitable in an active conflict, and experts say the tens of pledged jets aren’t a silver bullet against Russia’s larger and technologically advanced air force. But the jets do bring Ukraine a modernizing boost to its air force, and pull its military closer to NATO standards.
Photo Illustration by Newsweek/Getty Images
Missiles and Fires
Ukraine’s supporters have sent a variety of equipment that was new to Kyiv’s military during the war.
From the U.S., Ukraine has received an unknown number of Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, which are long-range, ground-launched ballistic missiles with an estimated range of roughly 300 miles. U.S. President Joe Biden greenlit their use deep into Russian territory last month, more than a year after Ukraine first received the hardware.
According to Pentagon documents, Washington has also sent more than 40 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, also known as HIMARS, plus ammunition for the systems.
Elsewhere, Ukraine has used British- and French-supplied Storm Shadow missiles, also referred to as SCALP missiles, which are launched from F-16s and Ukraine’s Soviet-era jets, when adapted.
Ukraine has also used many other new weapons in the war, such as U.S.-provided cluster munitions, anti-personnel land mines, and Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs.
Homegrown Technology
Some of the technology Ukraine has received from its supporters, like ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles, have been subject to restrictions that Kyiv officials say hinder its war effort. Alongside aid deliveries, Ukraine has worked hard to develop new weapons domestically, which are not bound by rules set out by its backers.
Among these are Ukraine’s long-range explosive drones, which have frequently targeted Moscow’s high-value assets hundreds of miles into Russian territory, able to reach more than 1,000 kilometers over the border. Moscow’s air bases, naval facilities, oil refineries, weapons factories and even its capital city have come under attack from Ukrainian-made kamikaze drones developed throughout the war.
Ukraine’s long-range drones now, unlike before the war, are relatively cheap, said Samuel Bendett, from the Washington-based nonprofit for research and analyses, the CNA.
Ukraine has also designed, made and then upgraded a myriad shorter-range drones for use along the frontlines, used for reconnaissance, guiding artillery strikes or destroying Russian armored vehicles. Moscow and Kyiv’s race to develop better drones—and more effective counter-drone measures—has spurred on a stunning trajectory of uncrewed vehicle development.
From 2023, first person-view (FPV) drones came to dominate the conflict, becoming the “go-to tactical weapon” and developing longer ranges, said Bendett. Between 2022 and 2024, these became “larger, more powerful,” he said, able to perform a variety of missions.
The pace of development isn’t limited to airborne drone; Ukraine has pioneered its uncrewed surface vehicles, popularly known for menacing Russia’s Black Sea Fleet around the annexed Crimean peninsula. Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency operates the Magura V5, while the SBU, Ukraine’s security agency, developed its SeaBaby naval drones.
Uncrewed ground vehicles have also appeared, particularly for evacuation and logistics around the front line in dangerous positions. Ukraine is “leading the way” on this, Bendett said.
A lack of ammunition has forced Ukraine to “develop quite comprehensive and effective weapons” like airborne and waterborne drones, plus advanced jammers and rockets, Andrii Ziuz, a former chief executive of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council and current head of technology at London-based company Prevail, told Newsweek.
Russia and Ukraine have both moved away from pricey drones with a single use, toward masses of drones that can be “quickly put together, quickly fielded, and quickly lost,” said Bendett. They have also at once veered toward using fiber-optic cables to control flying drones, now that electronic warfare and jamming is so widespread.
Russia’s uncrewed fleet is formidable, but Ukraine has pulled ahead in areas like naval drones, heavy multi-rotor drones, and its newly-fielded interceptor drones that home in on Russia’s surveillance and reconnaissance drones, Bendett said.
New Missiles
Also in the mix are higher numbers of Ukraine’s homegrown Neptune anti-ship missiles, which are credited with sinking the Black Sea Fleet flagship, the Mosvka, in the early stages of the war.
In August, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky announced Ukraine had successfully tested its first domestically-manufactured ballistic missile, and has since teased further tests for the unnamed weapon. It is thought to be the Hrim-2, a missile long in development and thought to have an estimated range of just over 300 miles, Jacob Parakilas, research leader for defense strategy, policy and capabilities at the European branch of the Rand Corporation, previously told Newsweek.
This range would fall short of being able to strike Moscow, Parakilas said, but it is long enough to threaten key Russian sites like air bases, ammunition storage sites or other military facilities when fired from Ukrainian territory.
Kyiv has also developed a weapon described as a “missile-drone,” dubbed Palianytsia, and a howitzer it has called Bohdana.
Earlier this month, the Ukrainian commander heading up Ukraine’s drone forces said Kyiv had developed a laser weapon called Tryzub, or Ukrainian for “trident,” a key Ukrainian national symbol. “Today, we can already shoot down aircraft with this laser at an altitude of over 2 kilometers,” Vadym Sukharevskyi said during a defense summit in the Ukrainian capital.
Sukharevskyi is at the helm of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, established by presidential decree in early 2024. Kyiv became the first military to establish a branch of the military dedicated exclusively to drones, and Russia has since followed.
Air Defense
Kyiv has consistently called for more air-defense systems, and the interceptor missiles to keep them firing, from its supporters.
Since February 2022, Ukraine’s backers have provided a range of new air defense systems, including the U.S.-made Patriot, shorter-range Iris-T systems and the SAMP/T. The U.S. alone has provided three Patriot batteries and 12 National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, according to Pentagon documents, and more than 3,000 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, which are American man-portable air-defense systems.
Kyiv has also used the German-made Gepard anti-aircraft guns to great effect against Russia’s Iranian-designed Shahed kamikaze drones.
Ukraine has also received equipment designed to integrate a variety of Western systems with its pre-war infrastructure.
Tanks and Armored Vehicles
Ukraine has received armored vehicles and tanks from its supporters, plugging them into its existing forces.
From the U.S., Ukraine received 31 of the U.S. Army’s Abrams main battle tanks, plus 45 T-72B tanks. Washington has also sent upward of 300 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, which Ukraine has long praised, and four support vehicles for the Bradleys.
The U.K. has sent its Challenger 2 main battle tanks, and several countries have sent iterations of the German-made Leopard tanks. Different types of armored vehicles, like roughly 140 of Berlin’s Marder infantry fighting vehicles and tens of Paris’ AMX-10 RC armored reconnaissance vehicles, have been integrated into Ukraine’s military.
The U.S. has also donated other vehicles, such as more than 400 Stryker armored personnel carriers and over 1,000 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles.
Doctrine
Alongside the equipment have come fresh tactics. “Ukraine is completely switching to NATO standards in planning, operating and supplying the army,” Ziuz said.
However, there have been some questions about how applicable the NATO fighting style is for a Ukrainian military staring down a Russia with superior aviation.
