As the war with Russia stretches on, so too does a contest to make more and deadlier flying machines. That means a fight over global electronics supply chains that run through China.
Small, fast-moving U.S. tech firms are using the war in Ukraine to demonstrate a new generation of military systems but face the challenge of selling them to a risk-averse Defense Department.
While Russia lacks an effective long-range strike drone, Ukraine’s experimentation has produced an array of inexpensive, plastic aircraft, jerry-rigged to drop grenades or other munitions.