A soldier from the Khartia Brigade assembles a drone in the Kharkiv oblast, Ukraine, November 7, 2025. JULIA DEMAREE NIKHINSON / AP
Since the summer, the Ukrainian army's arsenal of FPV quadcopter drones (loitering munitions) has been enhanced with a system able to take over from the pilot during the final phase of flight − that is, the last 500 meters to the target. The system, called TFL-1, has been used for strikes in specific areas where pilots cannot maintain a radio link with their drone due to terrain or electronic jamming.
"For months, start-ups kept going on about artificial intelligence [AI], and when I heard about TFL-1, I was skeptical," recalled Lincoln, 34, sporting a chinstrap beard reminiscent of the US president (1861-1865) who inspired his nom de guerre. Like the other soldiers quoted in this article, he is not authorized to reveal his identity.
A drone operator in the Ukrainian military intelligence (HUR), he described having "tested dozens of drones supposedly equipped with these autonomous guidance systems, but none were effective." He was impressed, however, by a demonstration in early summer by The Fourth Law, the company that manufactures TFL-1. The firm was founded in 2023 by 36-year-old computer scientist Yaroslav Azhnyuk. Lincoln decided to order 10 units. "When we tested the module, we immediately saw that it really locked onto a moving target from 400 meters away," he said.
