Description
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has encouraged Ukrainian society to vastly mobilise behind defence-tech, especially aerial drones. Grassroots organisations have appeared to produce drones from kitchens to startups, while state-sponsored organisations have emerged to expedite the innovative and mass scaling capacities of proven technologies. With a relentless need to innovate and adapt to the latest advancements on the battlefield, I argue that Ukraine’s innovative resilience represents a unique hybrid total defence model that blends bottom-up creativity with top-down support. I present an innovation/counter-innovation cycle to visualise the process and build on existing total defence literature by presenting that strategic logics behind total defence can and should be fluid and adaptable to allow innovation to thrive using four case studies. Ukrainian innovation can offer lessons for NATO and European states building resilience in the contemporary hybrid and conventional threat environment.
