In the trenches of Ukraine, a soldier launches a drone while another practices with a bayonet. It’s an image that encapsulates the strange intersection of old and new in modern warfare. The battlefield has evolved, and drones are at the forefront of this transformation. At the Resilience Conference 2024, a panel moderated by The Telegraph’s Danielle Sheridan brought together three leading voices to discuss this seismic shift: Karl Eze, CEO of Point Zenith, Srdjan Kovacevic, CEO of Orqa, and Alex Schmitt, investor at Lightspeed Venture Partners. Watch the video here.
Karl Eze: From Drone Racing to the Frontlines
For Karl Eze, drones aren’t just tools of war—they’re a lifelong passion. A former Army officer, Eze’s foray into drones began ten years ago with competitive drone racing. “I started the Army’s drone racing team in 2017,” he shared, recalling his early belief in their military application. His experiences have made him a key voice on how FPV (First-Person View) drones are altering the battlespace.
Eze compared their impact to the invention of the machine gun in World War I: they force troops underground, stifling manoeuvre and pushing warfare into static positions. Yet, like tanks breaking trench deadlock a century ago, solutions will emerge. “Drone-on-drone warfare is becoming vital. It’s about blinding reconnaissance drones, leveraging electronic warfare, and creating openings for manoeuvre,” he explained.
However, Eze doesn’t see drones replacing conventional tools like artillery. Instead, they work in concert: artillery fixes the enemy in place, and drones deliver precision strikes to finish the job. “It’s a layered approach,” he said. The future, he believes, will see systems currently crewed by personnel, like tanks, evolve into autonomous platforms.
Srdjan Kovacevic: Building Resilience in the Drone Supply Chain
Srdjan Kovacevic, CEO of Orqa, approaches drone warfare with a builder’s mindset. His company has become a leader in drone components, focusing on producing systems that are free from Chinese supply chain dependencies—a critical issue in today’s defence landscape.
“Before the war, Chinese companies dominated the drone market,” he explained. Companies like DJI held 75% market share, leaving Western firms reliant on Chinese hardware. Kovacevic is determined to change that. Orqa builds its technology blocks in Europe, integrating software and hardware to produce drones that are resilient, effective, and hard to replicate.
But Kovacevic also cautions against overestimating FPV drones. “Every successful strike generates content for social media. That visibility creates a perception of overwhelming effectiveness, but we need to stay grounded,” he said. In his view, the enduring legacy of drones will lie in ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) roles, where cheap, attributable drones become standard tools at the squad level.
Alex Schmitt: From Investment to Innovation
As a defence investor, Alex Schmitt’s role is to spot the next generation of game-changing technologies. Schmitt highlighted the rapid adoption of commercial off-the-shelf components as one of the biggest shifts in drone warfare.
“We’re seeing thousands of drones churned through the battlefield,” he noted. The affordability and availability of these systems have transformed warfare into a “war of attrition,” but this rapid innovation has come with challenges. Training for drone operators, counter-UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) capabilities, and electronic warfare (EW) resilience are critical gaps that need to be addressed.
Schmitt believes the brightest minds in drone technology are already thinking ahead to these challenges: “Drone-on-drone combat, EW resistance, and AI-driven situational awareness will define the next phase.” Supply chain resilience, he stressed, is equally crucial. Europe’s reliance on globalised manufacturing has left its industries vulnerable. “We need to rebuild capabilities to produce technology at affordable scale,” Schmitt urged, adding that companies like Orqa are leading the way.
The Future of the Battlefield
The panelists agreed that drones are here to stay, but they will not render traditional capabilities obsolete. “The nature of war stays the same, but the character of war changes,” Eze said. Artillery, infantry, and tanks will still play vital roles, but they will be augmented by drones, autonomous systems, and data-driven tactics.
Kovacevic summed up the pace of change best: “No one could have imagined the state of drone warfare when this war began in February 2022. Innovation has moved at an unprecedented speed.”
The next conflict may look different, but the lessons from Ukraine—the power of cheap, accessible technology, the importance of resilience in supply chains, and the rise of autonomous systems—will shape how we prepare for it. As Schmitt concluded, “This is only the beginning. The battlefield is evolving, and the brightest innovators are already building what’s next.”
In a world where trench warfare meets cutting-edge drones, the message is clear: the evolution of modern warfare has only just begun.
