Future wars will be won not only by those who have the best technological systems, Ukraine’s former top general says in London

Ukraine’s former top general, now its ambassador to Britain, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, warned at a London defense-technology showcase that future wars will be won by those who can produce high-tech weapons affordably and in large quantities. He pointed to Russia’s Geran drone, once an expensive Cold War missile, as a sign of where the future of warfare is headed.

Zaluzhnyi said that by 2025, Ukraine would no longer attempt to win through sheer numbers of casualties, but instead would rely on a high-tech, low-cost approach. The former commander-in-chief argued that his doctrine, emphasizing the importance of affordable, mass-produced weaponry, was now being echoed by other Ukrainian officials.

Zaluzhnyi stressed that the affordability of such weapons threatened the financial stability of richer nations, which would struggle to equip their defenses against the influx of cheap, high-tech arms. He believes that future conflicts will hinge on a nation’s ability to manufacture these weapons in bulk, rather than solely on the sophistication of the systems they possess.

Ukraine has already begun to build a modern defense industry based on this logic, with its combat experience driving the development of unmanned systems that now play a crucial role in battlefield operations. However, the bottleneck remains the availability of components, as much of the parts base for Ukrainian weapons is still located abroad.

Zaluzhnyi urged partners to invest in Ukraine’s defense production, framing it as a mutually beneficial arrangement that would not only help Ukraine but also strengthen the defense capabilities of its allies. The speaker emphasized that Ukraine’s battlefield expertise would serve as the foundation for weapons capable of withstanding the wars of the future.