Ukrainian Air Force Capt. Max Maslii, deputy chief of staff for the 96th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, talks with Defense One's Patrick Tucker in Washington, D.C. Defense One
‘It’s drones fighting drones’: Ukrainian officer offers inside look at roboticized war
A counter-drone leader describes front lines where humans hide, machines collaborate, and survival depends on adapting in real time.
Ukraine has sent hundreds of counter-drone experts to the Middle East to help the militaries of the United States, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE defend themselves from Iranian and Russian Shahed drones. Among them is Ukrainian Air Force Capt. Max Maslii, deputy chief of staff for the 96th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade, who visited Washington, D.C., in March as part of a Ukrainian defense forces delegation. In this Defense One interview, Maslii describes how Ukraine is using robot swarms, agentic AI, and frontline innovation to define the future of military operations. He outlines how U.S. and NATO militaries must change how they buy, train, and conduct operations to meet the reality of robotic warfare.