Ensuring Combat-Ready UAV Capability in Weeks

Ukraine has set the Pace: Over 200,000 Drone Operations Monthly (and Rising) Have Made Ukraine the Proving Ground for High-Intensity UAV Warfare.

In 2022, Ukraine’s UAV capabilities were limited in scope and operational tempo. In just three years, the country became the most drone-intensive battlefield in history - deploying over 200,000 UAVs per month by early 2025, with projections of half a million monthly by year’s end.

What Ukraine demonstrates is that large-scale drone deployments can overwhelm defenses unprepared for such threats. Most nations won't face hundreds of thousands of drone operations every month. However, any country involved in escalating conflict must become combat-ready within weeks to handle a drone-driven battlefield.

Why This Case Study Matters

This is the true story of how drone capabilities were developed within weeks during a conflict, demonstrating how any country can apply the same strategies to be prepared and fully operational when conflict arises.

This transformation isn't just about buying drones - it’s about developing the complete capability to deploy, integrate, and maintain them effectively on the front lines under intense combat conditions before and during purchase.

THE CORE LESSONS

Winning the drone race in a conflict isn’t just about taking delivery - it’s about turning deliveries into an operational advantage within days or weeks. That requires building organizational capability for rapid readiness, which critically depends on the supplier’s capabilities.

Three Critical Enablers of Rapid Readiness (and why the right supplier matters

1. Trial-based procurement

Showcasing proven capability development to guarantee equipment reaches the front line and performs effectively during peak pressure.

2. Training & Doctrine

A supplier capable of providing training for operators and establishing doctrines for commanders so systems go directly from the crate to combat without delays.

3. Deployment & Integration

Partnering with a supplier experienced in adapting tactics, software, and hardware to honest battlefield feedback, ensuring drones perform and the information is available for fast decision making.

This case study looks closer at trial base procurement. Separate documents will highlight how to make the necessary changes to training and doctrine as well as Deployment and Integration to scale drone operations fast when needed.

Breaking the Old ModeL:
How Trial-Based Procurement Matched Delivery to Capability

The Situation Before the Conflict

When we first engaged with the customer, their procurement process was a textbook example of traditional defense acquisition. New systems followed a rigid sequence: specifications were drafted, formal tenders issued, competitive evaluations conducted, and only after contract award would production and delivery begin. Training and doctrine development came last—sometimes months after the hardware had been received. In a stable environment, this model worked. But it assumed time was on their side.

The Real Conflict and the Need to Pivot

Then a real conflict broke out. Operational needs shifted overnight. What had been a planned, deliberate procurement program suddenly needed to deliver results in weeks, not years. The traditional model was too slow—by the time drones could be delivered and personnel trained, the battlefield situation would have moved on. The customer faced a critical gap: they could buy drones, but they could not get them operational fast enough to influence the fight.

Our Approach – Trial-Based Procurement

We replaced the long, sequential process with a short, capability-focused cycle designed for combat conditions:

Hands-on Demos

Within days, frontline units had drones in their hands, flying missions under real operational conditions.

Concurrent Training

Operators, maintainers, and commanders were trained alongside early deployments so systems went straight from crate to combat.

Live Feedback Loop

Field experience flowed directly to our engineering and production teams, driving rapid refinements in tactics, software, and hardware.

Surge-Ready Supply Chain

Logistics and production capacity were in place to scale deliveries immediately once the trials proved the concept.

The Result

In less than six weeks, the customer went from having no operational UAV capability to sustaining regular frontline drone operations. Doctrine evolved in parallel with capability. When the order for additional systems came, the supply chain was ready—spares, upgrades, and new units flowed without delay. Under their old model, this transformation would have taken more than a year. With trial-based procurement, they achieved it before the conflict could outpace them.

Why trial based procurement work

Rapid Capability Ramp-Up - Operational capability is reached in weeks, not years.
Continuous Adaptation - Multiple adjustment cycles (tactics, payloads, EW hardening, software) happen en route to full capability, keeping systems aligned with evolving threats.
Objective-Driven - The goal is not just to deliver hardware, but to meet a defined operational capability target quickly and precisely.

Practical Guide:
Trial-Based Procurement for Rapid UAV Capability

This practical guide is designed for both commanders and procurement leads, providing a step-by-step approach to implementing trial-based procurement that accelerates UAV capability delivery while maintaining operational control.