A Ukrainian company has secured third place at the JATEC hackathon focused on countering FPV drones controlled via fiber optics.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said this in a statement seen by Ukrinform.
“Two companies from the United States and one from Ukraine were the winners of the NATO Innovation Challenge 2025-II, an international innovation competition dedicated to countering fiber-optic-controlled FPV drones. They will now have the opportunity to further develop their solutions in cooperation with NATO’s specialized structures,” the ministry said.
According to the ministry, the hackathon finals were held in Estonia’s capital, Tallinn. Eleven teams participated, representing Ukraine, Denmark, Italy, Canada, Lithuania, Poland, the United States, and France.
The hackathon jury included a panel of experts from the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, the Ukrainian Armed Forces, JATEC, and NATO.
“First place was awarded to KMB Telematics Inc. (U.S.). Second place went to Sentradel (U.S.). Third place was won by developers from Ukraine — the company DONS,” the ministry said.
Deputy Defense Minister Valerii Churkin emphasized the importance of Ukrainian companies’ participation in NATO innovation hackathons for accelerating the development of military technology, as it enables synchronization between Ukraine’s technical requirements and NATO standards.
“Through the JATEC platform, we are not only integrating battlefield experience into scalable solutions, but also ensuring interoperability of capabilities to achieve battlefield dominance,” he said.
According to the ministry, this year’s competition set a record: 162 technical proposals were submitted, including 42 from Ukrainian teams, demonstrating the strength of Ukraine’s miltech sector and engineering expertise despite the conditions of full-scale war.
Photo: mod.gov.ua
Source: Ukrainian company wins third place at hackathon on countering fiber-optic-controlled FPV drones
