Warbirds of Ukraine

Warbirds of Ukraine is an aerospace-technology firm based in Bila Tserkva, in the Kyiv region, that designs and builds unmanned aircraft and the avionics and communications modules that go inside them. Its reconnaissance platform traces back to 2015, when it was supplied to the Armed Forces and National Guard as volunteer aid under the name ASU-1 Valkyrie; after a decade of refinement on the front line it was rebranded as the Halka.

The current Halka MK2 and MK3 are catapult-launched fixed-wing scouts advertised with roughly three hours of endurance, a cruising speed near 70 km/h and a range of up to about 180 km. Their notable feature is resilience to Russian electronic warfare: the MK2 carries a visual-navigation module and the MK3 is described as able to fly without GPS over a protected control link, letting the aircraft hold course where satellite navigation is jammed. The airframe is foam reinforced with a carbon frame, two operators set it up in about 15 minutes, and it is rated for rain, snow, fog and temperatures down to -20 °C.

The company has since moved into long-range strike with the Zozulia, unveiled at the Brave1 Defense Tech Valley 2025 exhibition. Warbirds reports a maximum range of 2,100 km, a 170 kg takeoff weight and a warhead of 10-50 kg that trades off against distance — about 10-15 kg at full range, up to 50 kg at roughly 1,100 km — for a unit cost near $40,000. The Zozulia uses an in-house inertial system, CRPA antennas and visual navigation to resist spoofing, and Warbirds positions it not only as a one-way strike drone but as a reconnaissance aircraft, repeater, munitions carrier or interceptor. The firm says it has built around 100 of the type, and that the system has been tested and codified by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence.