A member of Ukraine's Typhoon unit holds a Hornet attack drone, known for its AI-targeting capabilities.
Nikoletta Stoyanova/Getty Images
To Spring, some of the new drones blunting Russia's momentum first arrived so glitchy they were practically cursed."In every sortie, everything that could go wrong went wrong," the drone pilot, with the Ukrainian National Guard's Typhoon unit, told Business Insider of the first system she tested in early 2025.The fixed-wing drone's camera feed would stop working, or its software would stall before takeoff. Controls sometimes became unresponsive after a few minutes, or the batteries failed, she said. And that's after it was already sent to the front for combat use. Spring, identified by her call sign for security purposes, declined to name the specific system. But she said she's tested over 10 types of mid-range strike drones for Typhoon, most of them Ukrainian-made. Their use is growing rapidly on the front line, and more manufacturers are sending in their entries of this drone class for frontline troops to fly.Though considered "finished" drones, their quality can vary greatly, with some encountering severe issues before they clear testing ranges, she said. In combat, such failures can be costly for Ukrainian units, requiring drone pilots like Spring to now juggle time at the front lines with meticulous testing of the fixed-wing systems.
