Ukraine drone makers court Japan and Taiwan with war-tested systems

Ukrainian drone makers are moving beyond survival and into sales, using the war against Russia as a live demonstration for buyers in Japan and Taiwan. UFORCE chief Oleg Rogynskyy traveled to Tokyo in April to tell Japanese officials and defense contractors that thousands of drones should be built to defend Japan and its allies, a pitch made as East Asian militaries reassessed what low-cost unmanned systems can do in a fast-moving conflict.

The timing mattered. Days before Rogynskyy’s Tokyo meetings, U.S. troops had used UFORCE waterborne drones in a secretive exercise that sank a ship near the meeting point of the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. UFORCE’s Magura surface vessel has already helped push Russian naval forces away from parts of the Black Sea, and Rogynskyy has argued that while East Asia’s geography differs, the strategic effect is much the same. In the Taiwan Strait, as in the Black Sea, drones can stretch defenses, threaten larger ships and shift the cost of deterrence.

Japan’s own policy is moving in the same direction. The Ministry of Defense says it is reinforcing capabilities with “independence and initiative” and is building future core strengths such as stand-off and integrated air and missile defense. Its 2025 defense materials described the regional security environment as increasingly severe, a backdrop that helps explain why Ukrainian firms see a receptive market in Tokyo.

Taiwan is an even more obvious target. In July 2025, the Ministry of National Defense announced plans to acquire up to 48,750 drones over two years. In June 2026, the cabinet approved a special NT$210 billion budget that covered 1,446 coastal reconnaissance drones, 208,200 coastal attack drones and 1,320 uncrewed surface vehicles. That scale of demand has turned Ukrainian wartime experience into a commercial calling card, especially for companies that can show their systems have already been tested against Russian forces.

The interest is not one-way. The Ukrainian drone association IRON brought about a dozen members to Taichung in May to meet with Taiwanese firms and help Ukrainian companies find parts suppliers, a sign that Ukraine is also looking to Asia for industrial support. Taiwanese suppliers and industry groups have said the war has already lifted Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe, with shipments rising 41.7-fold from 2024 to 2025, suggesting that battlefield demand is reshaping supply chains in both directions.

Japan-Ukraine cooperation is also becoming concrete. Tokyo-listed Terra Drone has announced defense-sector ties with Ukrainian interceptor-drone maker Amazing Drones, including a strategic investment and the deployment of a Terra A1 interceptor in Ukraine. For Ukraine, the war is no longer only a fight for territory. It is also a proof-of-concept for a defense industry that now sees Taiwan and Japan as serious customers.