The Military Technological Arms Race in Ukraine

The Military Technological Arms Race in Ukraine

Author: Modern War Institute at West Point October 5, 2025 Duration: 47:04
Almost since the very beginning the war in Ukraine triggered by Russia’s invasion in February 2022, the conflict took on characteristics of a technological arms race, with each side seeking to innovate to gain a battlefield advantage. As the war has continued, that contest for advantage has taken place on an increasingly rapid scale. The rollout of a drone optimized for a new mission, the development of a new tactic, an advance in electronic warfare—each of these has produced a shorter and shorter window of advantage until the other side counters it with its own innovation. In this episode, John Amble is joined by Sam Bendett, an adviser and member of the Russia Studies Program at CNA and a close observer of the way Ukraine and Russia are leveraging technological innovation in the war. The MWI Podcast is produced with the generous support of the West Point Class of 1974.

Hosted by the Modern War Institute at West Point, this series offers a direct, thoughtful examination of the ideas and strategies shaping contemporary and future battlefields. Each episode brings together the institute’s deep analytical resources with voices from the field, creating conversations that are both academic and grounded in real-world experience. You’ll hear from senior military leaders, policy experts, historians, and scholars who dissect complex topics-from emerging technologies and hybrid warfare to geopolitical shifts and the enduring human elements of conflict. Supported by the West Point Class of 1974, the podcast serves as a primary forum for the institute’s work, moving beyond headlines to explore the underlying mechanics and ethical considerations of modern defense. The discussions are detailed and nuanced, designed for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of national security challenges without the jargon and oversimplification. Tune in for a rigorous, accessible education on the art of war in the twenty-first century, where every conversation aims to inform and provoke thoughtful consideration.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Modern War Institute
Podcast Episodes
Europe's Airspace Violations and the Counterdrone Challenge [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:44
Late on the night of September 9, twenty-one medium-sized, fixed-wing drones entered Poland’s airspace. Several were shot down, while others crashed, some deep inside Polish territory. Later that month, a series of drone…
China's Strategic Competition with the United States [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:15
The United States is engaged in a strategic competition with China. On issues ranging from Taiwan's security to the question of which country will most shape the geopolitical order in the years and decades to come, Washi…
The Army and Tomorrow's Technologies [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:32
The US Army is in a period of transformation. And much of that transformation centers on technology—from artificial intelligence and robotics to drones and directed-energy weapons. But leaning forward technologically bri…
The US Military's Critical Minerals Challenge [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:46
The US government established the National Defense Stockpile in 1939 to ensure that in the event of a major conflict, there would be enough raw materials on hand to continue production of vital equipment. Since the end o…
Bunker Busters and B-2s [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:02
When the United States conducted Operation Midnight Hammer, a series of strikes against Iranian nuclear targets, it did so with two key pieces of exquisite hardware: the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator and the B-2 Spi…
The US Defense Industrial Base, from Steel to Software [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:38
The defense industrial base is a critical component of US military readiness. But how should we conceptualize it in the information age, when it isn't just physical materiel like weapons, vehicles, and ammunition that ar…
A Survey of Europe's Defense and Security Landscape [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:43
When Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, it galvanized both NATO and the European Union, doing more to unify much of Europe than any event in recent history. But how has political and strategic unity transla…
The Future Battlefield, from Europe to the Indo-Pacific [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:41
For more than three years, journalists, researchers, and military professionals have sought to describe the key dynamics of the war in Ukraine and determine what they tell us about the future of warfare. One of the sharp…
The Collapse of the Continuum of Conflict [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:01
National security professionals often conceptualize a continuum of conflict as a framework to understand the wide variety of ways in which conflict can manifest itself. It extends from relative peace on one end, terroris…
DeepSeek and the US-China AI Race [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:44
When the Chinese company DeepSeek recently released an artificial intelligence model called R1, its surprisingly advanced capability and the efficiency with which DeepSeek claimed to have trained the model sparked a wave…