Ukraine showed deep-strike drones must work offline. NATO's interested in cheap versions that can swarm airfields.

A strike drone made by a Czech firm recently took first place in a NATO Innovation Challenge. Courtesy of LPP Holding Ukraine has proven that deep-strike weapons must work under electronic warfare conditions to be effective. One European arms maker said this ability is crucial for weapons on the modern battlefield. NATO has shown interest in similar capabilities that can swarm enemy airfields and deny operations there. Ukrainian deep-strike operations have shown that drones must be able to fly through heavy electronic warfare conditions to reach their targets, a European arms maker told Business Insider. In the war in Ukraine, electronic warfare is a dominating battlefield effect , and there is a growing realization among Western militaries and defense firms that long-range strike weapons will have to work even when disconnected from their pilots to be relevant in a modern conflict.