Wild Hornets Take Flight

Ukraine’s top FPV drone-making charity, funded 100% by donations, ishelping revolutionize the battlefield and save lives
Wild Hornets have grown at an explosive pace in their first year of operations. They
scaled production by over 40 times and supply some of Ukraine’s best drones tomany of its most elite military units.
They innovate with drones hardened against electronic warfare, night drones, madein-Ukraine parts and development of next-generation semi-autonomous drones.
And it’s all thanks to donations and volunteers. In an interview with military analysis
group Tochnyi, Wild Hornets volunteer Alex Roslin told the story of Ukraine’s
leading FPV drone-making charitable fund, how $7,000 of Wild Hornets destroyed$7 million of enemy equipment in a single day, and what the future holds for theseground-breaking Ukrainian drones. This interview has been edited for brevity andclarity.
TOCHNYI: What are the Wild Hornets and how did you become
involved?
WILD HORNETS: I’m a journalist in Canada of Ukrainian descent. I found out about
the Wild Hornets by reading an article about them in Censor.net, a popular
Ukrainian news website run by very well-known Ukrainian military reporter andanti-corruption activist Yuri Butusov.
Censor.net was approached by a lot of different drone outfits for support, but theydecided to support the Wild Hornets after researching them and finding out how
effective their FPV drones are. They chose them as their only FPV drone fordedicated fundraising support and started fundraising for them in May and June2024.
One of their journalists went to see how they work and watch their testing of thedrones and wrote an article. I was so impressed that I wrote an article about them in
the Kyiv Post and devoted all my fundraising and work I do on Twitter and elsewhere
to supporting them.
I could see how cost-effective and high performing they are and how they filled theammunition gaps left by the blocking of critical U.S. aid to Ukraine by Putin’s friends
in the U.S. Congress.
The Wild Hornets were founded in Ukraine?
Yes, it started with humanitarian volunteers who had connections with an anti-tankunit in Ukraine’s elite Separate Presidential Brigade. They saw the potential for FPV
drones in early 2022. They worked with these volunteers to develop some of the first
FPV drones that could be used as both kamikaze drones and bombers.
Because of this, Wild Hornets have a very versatile, multirole functionality. They canbe reused over and over again in the bomber capacity or smashed into enemy
equipment in the kamikaze capacity.

The team has very highly skilled technicians who work closely with military
personnel to develop the drones, choose the highest quality parts and continually
innovate them to make them more and more effective.

What you can see with Wild Hornets is a consistency in theassembly, in the way parts are constructed… a lot of very wellsustained work.
One of the things I was really impressed with since the beginning was thelevel and quality of integration. You can see different types of kits thathave been delivered to soldiers on both sides, and they most of the timeneed a lot of self-assembly and the cable management is not always idealor the same for each drone.
What you can see [with Wild Hornets] is a consistency in the assembly,
in the way parts are constructed. This is a good sign because it means
there is a project, a plan and a set of people who upgrade and probably
track each component that goes in. When they have to update it, theyknow exactly what to do. It’s not a bunch of amateurs.
Another point was the fact that I started to see different models, like the7-inch and 10-inch, and the different variants: the bomber, the bomber
with the rotating carousel, the night vision drone, 3D printed elements.
This was a clear sign of a lot of very well-sustained work.
Thank you so much for your observations. We are very proud of these drones. This is
why the most elite Ukrainian units ask for them so much. As you say, they don’t need
to be reworked like some drones sometimes need to be. They’re assembled very
carefully with very selected parts.
I should say the team actually does consist effectively of volunteers. There are people
on the team reimbursed for living expenses, so they have basic necessities to live on.
It’s also a non-profit charitable fund registered in Kyiv. For these reasons, themaximal amount of money that comes into the Wild Hornets goes out in the form ofdrones to destroy the invaders and keep Ukraine free.
Because of the mass production techniques you highlighted and the dramatic scaling
we have achieved, we’ve been able to lower the cost of the drones. As well, with thenight capacity, we found ways of achieving that for a marginal additional cost toequip drones with that capacity.
Because of this constant innovation and very, very close interaction with some of thebest-known units in Ukraine giving constant feedback, we’ve been able to do all sortsof other innovations, hardening them against electronic warfare and now working
towards artificial intelligence technology to allow target identification anddesignation, striking a pilot-designated target.
I should say also the scaling is pretty incredible. Last May 2023, the team was able toproduce 35 drones in a month. [That rose to over 1,500 a month early in 2024.]

And it's all donation-funded, mostly by small donors in Ukraine, but that has grown
dramatically as international knowledge of Wild Hornets has grown.
It appears you are doing a lot of work to verify that each design isconsistent and can be upgraded and adopting quality standards to traceback any imperfections in design. I really see professional work here
rather than a volunteer organization, so hats off to all the work you allare doing.
Thank you so much. Ukrainian troops deserve to have the highest quality equipment
possible to save Ukrainian lives. And in fact, we get stories about that all the time.
Just before this call, I was in touch with our team, and one of our most highly
decorated pilots and his comrades were involved in destroying a vast quantity ofRussian equipment on the southern front near Urozhaine. There is a new video on
the Wild Hornets Twitter page that shows some of that, and it’s quite amazing.
If we get frustrated by the lack of support for Ukraine from our own governments, wecan support in such a direct and immediate way. For example, we just finished araffle a week ago and two days after that raffle was done, some of the parts that werefunded by that raffle were actually in drones that had been already delivered to the
3rd Assault Brigade at Avdiivka, where they need those drones to help save
Ukrainian lives.
This is the kind of gratifying result that I think people are excited to have and attracts
so much interest and love for what these guys are doing in Kyiv and the units they
support.

Ukraine is a world leader in drones. The rest of the world
can really learn from Ukraine, but also help Ukraine.
One of the other things that is quite cool is that the Wild Hornets have been until
recently quite reliant on parts not made in Ukraine, and there have been logisticalissues with parts sourcing. But we have been developing more and more a made-inUkraine FPV drone.
So increasingly the parts are already or will soon be made in Ukraine, to the point
where we are figuring that about 70% of the Wild Hornets will be built in Ukraine
and that should increase. That will increase the reliability of the supply and the speedof the sourcing of parts.
The only thing we are limited by is donations. We are hoping to be able to build
several thousand drones a month later this year. But that requires more donations.
I’ve seen videos of Russian soldiers being basically herded like sheep intoa field by an FPV drone.
Yes, this was done by a Wild Hornet FPV night drone used in bomber mode. A bomb
was dropped and there were around 10 survivors of the enemy. It’s quite amazing to
see the pilot literally chasing them across an open field, and he just zips aroundoverhead. It’s an Oscar performance!

That drone was being used actually by the same unit as the one that was involved inthe destruction of enemy equipment [at Urozhaine in February 2024], which weestimate was worth about $7 million. It was destroyed with about 20 drones worth
around $7,000—so that's a 1,000-to-one “return” on donors’ wise investment inUkraine’s freedom, and really in the freedom of the whole world from Russia's
terrorist empire.
Volodymyr Dacenko, a reporter from Forbes, has found that of all the different
munitions that can be employed, FPV drones are by far the most cost-effective.
The return for FPV drones that he calculated for armour was 175 to 1; for every dollarof cost of the FPV drone, on average $175 of enemy equipment is destroyed. Thatincludes the FPV drones that don’t successfully strike the target. That was also up to30 times more cost-effective than various types of artillery or mortars he listed.
There was the same kind of cost-effectiveness for even targeting personnel. You may
think why would we waste a FPV drone on an individual soldier, but it takes a lot ofmoney to equip, train, feed and compensate a soldier.

The unit had five Wild Hornets drones, and they used them torepel 17 attacks that happened during the course of one day.
Part of the reason Ukraine has been forced to go this route is not just because of alack of ammunition, but also because NATO has taken a long time to understand thecritical importance of drones. There have been lots of stories of Ukrainian soldiers
going for training in a NATO country and having to try to convince the instructors of
the importance of drones and digital tools. For Ukrainians, they are just as important
as a shovel and your rifle.
It shows Ukraine is a world leader in this, especially in the production of very highquality aerial drones, but also sea drones and ground drones. The rest of the world
can really learn from Ukraine, but also help Ukraine. Ukraine has the smarts,
knowhow and obviously the battlefield experience; we know how to apply this stuff
and develop the best stuff, but more money is needed.
For the Wild Hornets, the only bottleneck is money.
Is your goal to make all the components in Ukraine?
The goal is to make almost all of the drone in Ukraine. The remainder will be made inallied countries, so there won’t be any reliance on a less reliable partner. That speeds
delivery, reduces costs and ensures that we have the highest quality parts that areexactly what the Ukrainian units tell us that they need.
More and more of the process is being automated, and that’s another innovation weare very proud of that’s going to speed up production and make it cheaper and more
standardized.
How long does it take to train a pilot to an efficient level? In some videos,
there are acrobatic moves being performed in order to strike intotrenches.

These are often Wild Hornets being used in bomber capacity, which is one of theunique things about them. In one case in the summer of 2023, a very small
outnumbered, outgunned Ukrainian unit from the Separate Presidential Brigade wasunder a large armoured attack [on the southern axis]. I believe there were 10 tanks
and armoured vehicles attacking them.
The unit had five Wild Hornets drones, and they used them repel to 17 attacks that
happened during the course of one day. By the end of the day, most of that armour
was destroyed or damaged, and the survivors of the Russian attack had to withdraw.
One of the drone pilots was awarded the Golden Cross award by General Zaluzhny,then Commander in Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
It was a proud moment, and it goes to your question because that’s not an easy skill.
It takes weeks of rigorous training. It may seem simple that they’re just dropping abomb, but it’s very, very hard to do. You are seeing some brilliant piloting at workwhen you see these strikes.
It’s not exactly the same as the Battle of Britain, but we will remember these pilots as“The Few” who helped save Ukraine just like those pilots saved Britain.

We were able to quickly send them more drones, within evenhours, just as they were needed.
Is there any plan to being involved in more institutional funding
programs from the government?
Until now, the Wild Hornets has been funded solely by donations. The reason for
sticking mostly with that is that it has allowed the Wild Hornets to be more flexible,
to deal directly with the most effective units that are able to use these drones todestroy as much of the enemy as possible and to react very quickly for example insituations like Avdiivka or Urozhaine, where there have been these series of epicallyfailing enemy attacks.
We were able to quickly send them more drones, within even hours, just as they wereneeded, to ensure they have enough to keep burning the enemy.
The Wild Hornets also collaborate with elite units [such as HUR military intelligence,Special Operations Forces, the 73rd Naval Special Forces Center, SBU militarycounterintelligence, the Bulava Presidential Fly Team] to customize drones to their
exact specifications and needs in particular sectors.
However, as we want to scale and continue to expand the production as quickly as
possible, we are exploring all options for partnerships and funding.
You are not a business; you don’t sell your drones.
We give the drones for free to units; they are not sold.
Ukraine is going to have many more drones soon, looking at thepredictions from [Tochnyi team member] Daniele who has been doing a
lot of tracking of the documented strikes. And the trends just point in
one direction, upward. Invaders should be terrified!

What is gratifying in your data is to see how Ukraine, despite being under thismassive attack, despite the funding difficulties with the United States, has
maintained its very significant lead over a country that has a massively bigger
industrial capacity.
I totally welcome initiatives like Wild Hornets, especially because I see a
lot of improvement and you always try to improve your product despite it
not being something you produce for a profit, but your profit is freedom!
Yes, that is very well said. Thank you, that is exactly right. It is important to realizethat we have seen some favourable data there, but Russia is mass-producing thesedrones and also innovating. So we have to stay ahead of them, and we can do that
only by receiving donations in the case of groups like the Wild Hornets.
Also the allies do have to support Ukraine. FPV drones are quite obviously vital on
the battlefield now, but you have to consider their range as well. For Wild Hornets
the longest-range strike that I know of is 22 kilometers. There has been a misnomer
that FPV drones have an operational effectiveness of maybe four or five kilometers
and that’s not the case, but still 22 kilometers is the outside limit.
So beyond that is where Ukraine needs the munitions that were being held up sofrustratingly by the United States. And so artillery and longer-range strikes are stillvital for Ukraine to be able to defeat Russia and save lives.
Can you explain how units can ask you for drones?
Units can email the Wild Hornets at hornetswild@gmail.com. If there are any
Ukrainian Armed Forces or other troops listening, we thank you for your service.
Thank you again Alex so much for joining us in the stream and Slava
Ukraini!
Heroyam Slava! Thank you! In case any of your followers don’t know what yourname “Tochnyi” means, it means “exact” or “precision.” I congratulate you andwelcome you for your precise work that documents what Ukraine is doing. It is a vital
part of the record to establish this, and it is not easy; I know it takes a lot of time.
So we commend you for what you do and everyone who supports Ukraine, ourvolunteers for the Wild Hornets around the world, the donors. It means everything toUkrainians! Thank you to all who support us, our hardworking volunteers andUkrainian soldiers defending freedom.
Find out more, including how to support Wild Hornets: English website,
Ukrainian website, Twitter, TikTok, Telegram, Instagam
Donate to the Wild Hornets on PayPal: donate@svoboda-ukrainy.com
Watch the full Tochnyi interview with the Wild Hornets
Thank you to Wild Hornets volunteer KanariFella for transcribing this interview.