On 13 October 2026, Rymarz Zdort Maruta, in cooperation with our StrongerTogether partner firm Freshfields, co-hosted a side event as part of the Warsaw Security Forum 2026.
Opened jointly by partners Magdalena Pyzik-Waląg (Rymarz Zdort Maruta) and Kate Gough (Freshfields), the event focused on the lessons from Ukraine and what the changing defence landscape means for business on NATO’s eastern flank.
The main point of the evening was a high-profile panel discussion titled “The Drone Economy: Defence, Risk and Resilience”, which brought together senior figures from the military, government, defence technology, investment and legal fields.
Our distinguished panellists included: General (ret.) Rajmund T. Andrzejczak, former Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces; Tobias Billström, Head of Governmental Relations and Compliance at Nordic Air Defence and former Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs; Andrii Mykhailovych Biletskyi, entrepreneur and co-founder of Fortes Aero; Dr Yorck Hesselbarth, co-founder of Orcrist Technologies and former AI Lead Officer at the Bundeswehr Cyber Innovation Hub; Stanisław Kastory, co-founder of Expeditions Fund; and Kate Gough, Partner and Head of UK Public Procurement at Freshfields.
The panel was preceded by two fireside chats: with General (ret.) Rajmund T. Andrzejczak on lessons from the war in Ukraine and the Russian threat to NATO, and with Tobias Billström concerning Sweden’s accession to NATO and the Alliance’s relations with Russia.
The discussions were moderated by Witold Jurasz, a journalist covering foreign and security policy at Onet.pl and the author of several books on Russia and Belarus. He also previously served as a Polish diplomat in Moscow and as chargé d’affaires of the Republic of Poland in Belarus.
The event was supported by the Polish Dual Use Chamber (PIDU) and the Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce (PUIG) as event partners.
About the discussion
The pace of drone innovation is exposing a difficult mismatch: technology can change in weeks, while the systems that finance, procure and manufacture it often move in years. For Europe, building lasting defence capability will depend on closing that gap – without sacrificing resilience, security or the traditional capabilities that remain essential.
That challenge was at the heart of “The Drone Economy: Defence, Risk and Resilience,” a panel discussion hosted by Rymarz Zdort Maruta and our StrongerTogether partner firm Freshfields on the occasion of the Warsaw Security Forum 2026.
Three questions drove the debate:
- Is the war in Ukraine really a drone war, or is it best understood as conventional warfare transformed by drone technology?
- Should the West produce drones now, knowing they could soon become obsolete, or focus on building the capacity to manufacture them at scale when needed – and who should pay for that readiness?
- Where is drone technology heading, and how resilient are the AI systems, data links and supply chains that adversaries are likely to target?
Bringing together perspectives from the military, government, technology, investment and law, the discussion explored the practical challenges facing Europe’s governments, businesses and investors.
Innovation is outpacing procurement
Unmanned systems are now among the most visible symbols of the war in Ukraine. Yet thousands of 155mm artillery shells are still fired every week. Drones have transformed how armed forces find, track and strike targets – but they have not replaced the need for mass, depth and endurance. For Europe, the lesson is balance: invest in new technology without hollowing out traditional capabilities. Since Russian drones entered Polish airspace in September 2025, that balance is no longer a theoretical debate for NATO’s eastern flank.
“This is not simply a drone war; war is fundamentally a political act. Drones are tools of warfare, but they cannot replace political strategy, industrial capacity, alliances and the broader objectives that ultimately determine how a war is fought and won.” General (ret.) Rajmund T. Andrzejczak
Innovation cycles measured in weeks collide with procurement cycles measured in years. Traditional procurement often buys a defined product against a fixed specification; drone warfare rewards constant iteration. Many governments are testing faster routes instead: framework agreements, innovation partnerships and competitions with rapid follow-on contracts. Europe’s efforts to streamline defence procurement, including the recently adopted Defence Readiness Omnibus package, point the same direction – but the real test will be how contracting authorities and suppliers translate regulatory changes into faster delivery.
“A drone is a flying part of a much larger system. Its value depends on whether the information reaches the right person, whether that person can trust it, and whether the next aircraft and trained operator are available when needed. My German position is straightforward: deploy and learn now; pay for production readiness; make suppliers interoperable; and retain control over the data, software and decisions. We should combine Ukrainian experience with German industrial execution and European scale.” Dr Yorck Hesselbarth,
Building capacity without creating new dependencies
Paying for capacity rather than output takes new models: capacity reservation contracts, availability payments, multi-year offtake commitments and joint procurement across states. European instruments such as the Security Action for Europe, designed to accelerate defence readiness, and the European Defence Industry Programme, aimed at achieving the long-term defence industry preparedness, add firepower, and national defence budgets continue to rise. For governments and industry alike, the challenge will be to invest with enough certainty to create capacity – and enough flexibility to respond as technology and political priorities change.
Scale depends on supply chains, too. Many of the motors, batteries, magnets and sensors in today’s drones come from China, which has already restricted exports of certain components. Building European capacity means mapping supply chains down to component level – and navigating export controls, dual-use rules, foreign investment screening and origin requirements along the way. Companies that get ahead of these rules can turn compliance into a competitive edge.
Resilience extends beyond the battlefield
Electronic warfare is already reshaping drone design. AI-supported navigation and target recognition and emerging coordinated swarms could reduce reliance on vulnerable data links. But they also raise hard questions about human control, international humanitarian law and accountability. Connected systems also create cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Cyber resilience is becoming a design requirement, and increasingly a contractual one, alongside clear rules on software updates, data and intellectual property.
In 2025, drone sightings grounded flights across European airports and exposed gaps in critical infrastructure protection. Airport, energy and port operators now face hard practical questions: who may detect and neutralize a drone, who is liable for the damage, and what risks can realistically be insured? Counter-drone systems are becoming a growth market in their own right – one that demands close coordination between states, regulators and private operators across borders.
“We need to understand not only the drone economy, but also traditional military materiel, industrial capacity and the security of information. The future of warfare depends on combining technological innovation with conventional capabilities, while ensuring that information security is embedded throughout the entire defence ecosystem.” Kate Gough
From innovation to lasting capability
What connects these challenges is the need to turn rapid battlefield innovation into lasting industrial readiness. For European governments, that means matching fast-moving technology with procurement, investment and regulatory systems that can evolve alongside it. For businesses and investors, it means recognizing that resilience – of supply chains, systems and production capacity – is becoming as important as technological capability itself.
Rymarz Zdort Maruta: promoting geopolitical and business dialogue
This event continued our conversations aimed at bringing together geopolitical experts and the business community following last year’s panel on geopolitical risk, investment and resilience in Central and Eastern Europe: Rymarz Zdort Maruta Promotes Geopolitical and Business Dialogue in Warsaw 2025 – Rymarz Zdort Maruta
For more initiatives like this, we invite you to subscribe to our newsletter: