When Russian jamming disabled reconnaissance drones flown by a group of Ukrainian special operators near Dnipro in August, they turned to a new solution: V-BUT drones built to withstand the massive electronic jamming used by both sides in the war in Ukraine.

“They launched from about 40 kilometers from the front, flew 100 kilometers past the front line of troops and then found them SA-11 surface-to-air missiles (launched) 11 Buckstargeted them, called in HIMARS airburst rounds,” said Brandon Tseng, president and co-founder of Shield AI, the V-BAT maker in San Diego.

This destroyed the SAMs and, Tseng said, marked a major operational test for the V-BAT: flying, collecting targeting data and transmitting it to artillery units, all in the face of the most sophisticated electronic warfare tactics on the earth.

Ukraine has some drones which can work well against EW, but work through autonomy and platform computing, good for one-way attack missions with whatever munitions can be squeezed on board. But the ability to quickly transmit data back to a real power fire solution such as a howitzer or Lockheed Martin HIMARSis essential to eliminate Russian positions. This is what V-BAT provided to the Ukrainians, according to Tseng, who witnessed the operation firsthand.

The V-BAT’s 300-mile range, even in the face of anti-aircraft defenses, gave the Ukrainians a new perspective on the battlefield.

“They were able to collect information that they had never collected before because they had a long-endurance aircraft that was able to track things for long periods of time,” Tseng said in an interview Thursday. “That absolutely blew their minds because while they had some aircraft, some weapons systems that could go 60 kilometers, maybe 100 kilometers, the time on station was like, for those aircraft, about 10.15 minutes . So when you compare it to us hanging around for eight, nine, 10, 11 hours, you know, after we get to the station … you actually have the time space to find a lot of targets.”

Tseng and his team at Shield AI initially brought the drones to Ukraine to test the effects of electromagnetic warfare in June.

Drones have proven capable of working in heavy traffic jam environments in ways others could not, according to a June report. report from the Ukrainian army obtained by Defense One.

“I flew within 1,000 meters of these jammers. No impact on our aircraft. It was tremendously successful,” Tseng said.

But those June results didn’t have the persuasive effect Tseng had hoped for.

“There were skeptics from the NATO side, from the American side, who said: ‘You know, no one has passed these tests.’ All drones fail here; you guys will be like everyone else.”

They insisted on a real experiment on the battlefield against the enemy. Tseng’s account was supported by a Ukrainian operator who spoke TO Wall Street Journal Thursday. In August, Tseng also he confessed before Congress on the success of the battlefield deployment.

There is no silver bullet that can bring victory to Ukraine, Defense Department officials routinely remind the public, often when we talk why they refuse to provide certain weapons (or refuse permission to use them as the Ukrainians would like). Despite this, some common themes emerge after years of war. Ukraine’s success against the larger Russian army is largely based on their ability to move faster, firing rounds and maneuvering quickly to escape Russian fire. But Russians learn fast.

The Russians are much better supplied with ammunition, a problem exacerbated by ongoing debate among Western allies over whether to supply Ukraine with what say the observers he needs

V-BAT works to reduce both of these problems. First, its size — small enough to fit in an SUV — and vertical takeoff help the Ukrainians to point and shoot.

“Airstrips, airfields are targeted. They are observed. They are tracked and so they are just extremely vulnerable points. So if your aircraft requires a runway, it’s really not a good, great place to be,” Tseng said.

And because V-BAT can pass not only targeting data, but also battle damage assessment, it helps Ukrainian forces make the most of their limited ammunition.

Without EW-hardened drones, Tseng said, “I don’t know if they hit things most of the time.”

Tseng said the next step is to integrate the missiles onto the drone itself.

“We organically launched from V-BAT a Northrop Grumman munition called Ax, which is a laser-guided munition that was a prototype capability (for) on-board kinetic effects, will be launched late next year.”