Jet engines, smart electronic warfare systems and repeaters. Ukrainian companies received grants to develop their developments

New technological solutions for electronic warfare and missile technology were presented by young teams during IRON DEMO 2025. The best developments received financial support to improve their own technologies.

The first place went to the development of the smart electronic warfare system "Pugach", which is capable of detecting and suppressing enemy FPV drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles. The development is based on the software part, which suppresses the main frequencies of Russian drones. The complex can be installed on positions, vehicles and carried by infantry.

The second place went to the development of an innovative propulsion unit for rocket technology. The technology allows for the strengthening of the launch systems of combat missiles. It is a rotary-detonation engine, which allows rocket technology to save 25% of fuel.

The engine operates on the explosive-rotational principle, which allows for the combination of reactive and kinetic thrust. Specialists from Lviv Polytechnic University were involved in its development.

Among the disadvantages of such an engine, one can single out the difficulty of adjusting the flight course, i.e. control, and the instability of the installation. At the same time, thanks to fuel economy and maintaining high speed, it allows you to fly further. In addition, it is simple and cheap to manufacture.

Similar technology is already being actively researched in the United States and China. In the United States, they plan to equip the missile armament of fourth-generation fighters with a rotary-detonation engine.

The third place went to a repeater for FPV drones of various modifications, which is already used in the Pokrovsky direction. It allows you to maintain stable communication in difficult combat conditions. Thanks to the directional antenna, which adjusts its direction to the strike drone, the operator manages to maintain stable FPV control.

"The Lviv City Council has long supported defense companies. There are vouchers for UAH 2 million for companies that create cool innovative developments. There are vouchers for UAH 1 million for those companies that want to scale their ready-made solutions. (...) A few months ago, together with the IRON cluster, we managed to launch new support for developments at the early stage of readiness," Oleksa Voznyak, a deputy of the Lviv City Council, tells Oborontsi.

According to him, grants will be available for developments with a technological readiness level of even TRL-3, that is, at the concept and drawings stage. The money is allocated by the Lviv City Council. The first place receives 300 thousand UAH in grants, the second place - 200 thousand UAH, and the third - 150 thousand UAH.

In total, in 2024-2025, the Lviv Territorial Community issued 92 grants for defense developments, totaling UAH 79.7 million.

"The funds can be used to purchase components, pay engineers, conduct tests, etc. That is, everything to make a prototype and test it," says Volodymyr Chernyuk, head of the IRON cluster.