Ukraine Evaluates US Autonomous Drone Boats That Its Own Combat Success Inspired

I’ve been tracking Ukraine’s transformation from drone importer to NATO’s leading drone warfare teacher for months. This week brought a development that captures how far the tables have turned: Ukrainian officials traveled to Portugal to evaluate autonomous systems from a company that openly credits Ukraine’s battlefield success for its existence.

The irony writes itself. But there’s a harder question underneath the headline: Why would Ukraine need to evaluate American interpretations of technology concepts they pioneered?

• What: Ukrainian officials observed HavocAI’s GPS-denied air-sea autonomy demonstration in Troia, Portugal
• When: December 2025, following HavocAI’s December 11 multi-domain GPS-denied demo
• Who: HavocAI, a Rhode Island-based startup backed by In-Q-Tel and Lockheed Martin Ventures
• Why it matters: Ukraine requested the demonstration, then signed a maritime drone production partnership with Portugal two days later

The demo was first reported by Axios, which obtained the exclusive.

The CEO’s Candid Credit

HavocAI CEO Paul Lwin didn’t hedge about who deserves credit for his company’s existence.

“Ukraine was the first military to prove the value of attritable unmanned naval assets,” Lwin told Axios. “Their success is the reason HavocAI exists today, and nearly two years after our founding, we’re excited to be able to now offer our collaborative autonomy capabilities in GPS-denied environments.”

That’s a remarkable statement from a company backed by the CIA’s venture arm and Lockheed Martin. It’s also savvy marketing. Aligning a startup with Ukraine’s combat-proven naval drone units provides instant credibility to Western investors and NATO customers. The question is whether the American product actually matches the Ukrainian original.

The Specs Tell a Different Story

Ukraine’s Magura V7, the drone that shot down two Su-30 fighters with Sidewinder missiles in May 2025, operates in a different class than HavocAI’s Rampage USVs.

The comparison reveals different design philosophies. Ukraine’s Magura is a combat-proven multi-role platform that can kill warships and shoot down jets. HavocAI’s Rampage is designed to be cheap, swarming, and attritable. Lwin has been clear about the concept: force adversaries to waste million-dollar missiles on hundred-thousand-dollar drones.

These aren’t competing products. They’re complementary concepts. Ukraine may be evaluating whether American swarm autonomy software could enhance their own larger, deadlier platforms.

What HavocAI Actually Demonstrated

HavocAI’s December 11 demonstration was no small feat. According to the company’s press release, it was the first-ever live demonstration of fully integrated air-sea autonomy without GPS.

• Autonomous surface vessels and drones coordinating in real-time under GPS denial
• Fused sensor inputs across both air and surface platforms for maritime domain awareness
• Automatic target recognition, identification, and tracking
• Autonomous execution of the full kill chain with operators “on, not in, the loop”
• Single-operator control of multiple heterogeneous systems through Havoc Control interface

The single-operator control claim is significant. Lwin has stated one person can manage up to 1,000 vessels simultaneously. That’s the swarm-at-scale vision the Pentagon is chasing for potential conflict with China.

But there’s a gap between demonstration and combat validation. Ukraine’s Magura drones have sunk warships, downed fighters, and forced Russia’s Black Sea Fleet to retreat from western positions. HavocAI has demo runs and DOD contracts. Combat is a different proving ground.

The Portugal Connection

Just two days after the Axios report, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro signed a joint partnership agreement to produce maritime drones. Portugal became the latest NATO country to formalize drone production collaboration with Ukraine, joining the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Romania.

“Today, Ukraine and Portugal have made a very important joint statement on establishing a partnership for the production of marine drones,” Zelenskyy said on December 20. “This is one of the most promising areas in defense work at the moment.”

Montenegro emphasized the two-way nature of the partnership:

“Portugal and Ukraine have, in terms of unmanned vehicles, knowledge that is today at the forefront of the world.”

This wasn’t Portugal’s first engagement with Ukrainian naval drones. During NATO’s REPMUS 2025 exercise in September, Ukraine brought upgraded Magura V7.2 drones to Troia and served as the “red team” adversary, teaching NATO forces what Russian tactics look like. The Portuguese Navy created its first squadron-sized drone unit in 2023, directly inspired by Ukraine’s battlefield performance.

The Uncomfortable Question

If Ukraine’s innovations inspired HavocAI’s existence, why does Ukraine need to evaluate American versions of their own concepts?

Several possibilities:

Software, not hardware. HavocAI’s core product isn’t boats. It’s the autonomy stack that coordinates multiple vessels and drones through a single interface. Ukraine builds lethal platforms. American companies may have an edge in the AI coordination layer that makes swarms function as unified systems.

GPS-denial solutions. Ukraine’s Magura V7.2 features satellite and inertial guidance designed to resist jamming. HavocAI demonstrated GPS-denied operations through alternate navigation and timing solutions. Different approaches to the same problem might be worth comparing.

Manufacturing scale. Ukraine produces 200,000 drones monthly, but under constant Russian missile attack. Western production facilities offer capacity protected from strikes. HavocAI has delivered 30+ vessels to DOD customers and plans to scale with partners like Metal Shark and Lockheed Martin.

Interoperability. If Ukraine wants its drones to integrate with NATO systems and Western command-and-control infrastructure, evaluating how American autonomy stacks work makes strategic sense.

DroneXL’s Take

We’ve covered Ukraine’s emergence as NATO’s drone warfare teacher extensively. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said it plainly: “The only expert right now in the world when it comes to anti-drone capacities is Ukraine.” We’ve watched as NATO allies lined up to partner with Kyiv on drone production.

Now we’re seeing the next phase. Ukraine isn’t just exporting expertise. They’re importing it too. And the companies pitching to them are the same ones that Ukraine’s combat innovations inspired in the first place.

Here’s my concern: the defense industrial relationship between Ukraine and Western companies risks becoming unbalanced. Portugal and the US provide production capacity and capital. But if Ukrainian innovation gets subsumed by Western corporate giants, Kyiv could find itself dependent on systems it originally conceived.

The smarter play is what Ukraine appears to be doing: evaluate everything, license selectively, and maintain domestic production capacity for combat-critical systems. Ukraine holds leverage that capital alone can’t buy. They have the combat data, the iteration speed, and the institutional knowledge that only comes from losing operators and learning from it.

HavocAI’s CEO is right that Ukraine’s success is the reason his company exists. But Ukraine’s Magura drones have sunk $500 million worth of Russian assets. HavocAI has impressive demos. Combat is the only test that matters, and Ukraine already passed it.

What do you think about Ukraine evaluating Western autonomous systems? Is this smart diversification or a risk to their innovation edge? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Featured image: HavocAI autonomous surface vessels. Photo: Courtesy of HavocAI