How the Ukrainian army has changed by 2025

Nearly three years after the start of a full-scale war with Russia, Ukraine’s military has transformed significantly since Moscow’s forces first crossed the border to invade its neighbor.

kyiv’s military started out as a Soviet-era force but has since absorbed Western technology and pushed for new military equipment to be manufactured domestically to make up for its losses and improve old assets.

Combat aircraft and other aircraft

In the first months of 2023, Ukraine received deliveries of Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets that the country’s military was accustomed to using from Slovakia and Poland.

But kyiv, after strong and constant lobbying for Western fighter jets, finally revealed that it was using fourth-generation American-made F-16 jets in August 2024. The expensive planes, supplied by Denmark, the countries -Bas, Belgium and Norway, was arguably the largest aid commitment of the war and required extensive training of pilots and ground personnel, as well as much new infrastructure and planning.

Ukraine has lost at least one F-16, which was inevitable in an active conflict, and experts say the dozens of promised planes are no silver bullet against Russia’s larger and more technologically advanced air force. But the jets give Ukraine a boost to modernize its air force and bring its military closer to NATO standards.

Missiles and fires

Ukraine’s partisans sent a variety of equipment that was new to the kyiv army during the war.

From the United States, Ukraine received an unknown number of Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, which are long-range ground-launched ballistic missiles with an estimated range of about 300 miles. US President Joe Biden gave the green light for their use deep into Russian territory last month, more than a year after Ukraine first received the material.

According to Pentagon documents, Washington also sent more than 40 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, also known as HIMARS, as well as munitions for those systems.

Elsewhere, Ukraine has used Storm Shadow missiles supplied by Britain and France, also called SCALP missiles, which are launched from Soviet-era F-16s and Ukrainian jets, once adapted.

Ukraine has also used many other new weapons in the war, such as US-supplied cluster munitions, anti-personnel land mines, and small diameter land bombs.

Local technology

Some of the technology Ukraine has received from its supporters, such as the ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles, has been subject to restrictions that kyiv officials say are hampering its war effort. Along with aid deliveries, Ukraine has worked hard to develop new weapons domestically, which are not subject to the rules set by its donors.

These include Ukraine’s long-range explosive drones, which have frequently targeted Moscow’s high-value assets hundreds of kilometers inside Russian territory, capable of reaching more than 1,000 kilometers beyond the border. Moscow’s air bases, naval installations, oil refineries, weapons factories and even its capital were attacked by Ukrainian-made kamikaze drones developed throughout the war.

Unlike before the war, Ukraine’s long-range drones are relatively cheap, said Samuel Bendett of the Washington-based nonprofit CNA.

Ukraine has also designed, manufactured and then modernized a myriad of short-range drones intended for use along the front lines, for reconnaissance, guiding artillery strikes or destroying Russian armored vehicles. The race in Moscow and kyiv to develop better drones – and more effective counter-drone measures – has sparked a stunning trajectory of unmanned vehicle development.

Starting in 2023, first-person view (FPV) drones have come to dominate the conflict, becoming the “tactical weapon of choice” and developing longer ranges, Bendett said. Between 2022 and 2024, these have become “bigger, more powerful”, he explained, capable of accomplishing various missions.

The pace of development is not limited to airborne drones; Ukraine was the first to use unmanned surface vehicles, known to threaten Russia’s Black Sea Fleet around the annexed Crimean peninsula. Ukraine’s military intelligence agency GUR operates the Magura V5, while the SBU, Ukraine’s security agency, has developed its SeaBaby naval drones.

Unmanned ground vehicles also appeared, particularly for evacuation and logistics around the front line in dangerous positions. Ukraine is “leading the way” in this area, Bendett said.

The lack of ammunition has forced Ukraine to “develop quite comprehensive and effective weapons” like airborne and waterborne drones, as well as advanced jammers and rockets, said Andrii Ziuz, former director general of the National Security and Defense Council. defense of Ukraine and current head of technology in London. company based in Prevail, said News week.

Russia and Ukraine have both moved away from expensive single-use drones and toward masses of drones that can be “quickly assembled, quickly fielded and quickly lost,” Bendett said. They also immediately turned to using fiber optic cables to control flying drones, now that electronic warfare and jamming are so prevalent.

Russia’s unmanned fleet is formidable, but Ukraine has moved ahead in areas such as naval drones, heavy multi-rotor drones and its new interceptor drones that take on Russian surveillance and reconnaissance drones, a Bendett said.

New missiles

There are also a larger number of Neptune anti-ship missiles of Ukrainian origin, which are credited with the sinking of the Black Sea Fleet flagship, the Mosvkaat the start of the war.

In August, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine had successfully tested its first domestically produced ballistic missile and has since announced further tests for the unnamed weapon. This would be the Hrim-2, a missile that has been in development for a long time and has an estimated range of just over 300 miles, said Jacob Parakilas, head of defense strategy, policy and capabilities research at the European branch of the Rand Corporation. said News week.

That range would not be enough to strike Moscow, Parakilas said, but it is long enough to threaten key Russian sites such as air bases, munitions storage sites or other military installations when fired from the Ukrainian territory.

kyiv has also developed a weapon described as a “missile drone”, called Palianytsia, and a howitzer called Bohdana.

Earlier this month, the Ukrainian commander leading Ukraine’s drone forces said kyiv had developed a laser weapon called Tryzub, or “trident” in Ukrainian, a key Ukrainian national symbol. “Today we can already shoot down planes with this laser at an altitude of more than 2 kilometers,” Vadym Sukharevskyi said at a defense summit in the Ukrainian capital.

Sukharevskyi heads Ukraine’s unmanned systems forces, created by presidential decree in early 2024. kyiv became the first army to create a military branch dedicated exclusively to drones, and Russia has since followed.

Air defense

kyiv has constantly demanded more air defense systems and interceptor missiles from its supporters to keep firing.

Since February 2022, Ukraine’s backers have delivered a range of new air defense systems, including the US-made Patriot, shorter-range Iris-T systems, and SAMP/T. The United States alone has provided three Patriot batteries and 12 advanced domestic surface-to-air missile systems, according to Pentagon documents, as well as more than 3,000 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, which are U.S. man-portable air defense systems .

kyiv also used German-made Gepard anti-aircraft guns against Russia’s Iranian-designed Shahed kamikaze drones to great effect.

Ukraine also received equipment designed to integrate various Western systems into its pre-war infrastructure.

Tanks and armored vehicles

Ukraine received armored vehicles and tanks from its supporters, integrating them into its existing forces.

From the United States, Ukraine received 31 of the US Army’s Abrams main battle tanks, as well as 45 T-72B tanks. Washington also sent more than 300 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, which Ukraine has long praised, as well as four support vehicles for the Bradleys.

The United Kingdom sent its Challenger 2 main battle tanks, and several countries sent iterations of the German-made Leopard tanks. Different types of armored vehicles, such as around 140 Marder infantry fighting vehicles from Berlin and dozens of AMX-10 RC armored reconnaissance vehicles from Paris, have been integrated into the Ukrainian army.

The United States has also donated other vehicles, such as more than 400 Stryker armored personnel carriers and more than 1,000 mine-resistant and ambush-protected vehicles.

Doctrine

Along with equipment, new tactics have appeared. “Ukraine is in the process of fully complying with NATO standards in planning, operation and procurement of the army,” Ziuz said.

However, questions have been raised about the applicability of NATO’s fighting style to a Ukrainian army facing a Russia with a superior air force.