For the second time, Snake Island Institute co-hosted the European Defense Tech Hackathon 2026 in Kyiv together with European Defense Tech Hub and with the National University “Kyiv Aviation Institute,” bringing together engineers, operators, researchers, and founders to work on battlefield-driven defense technology challenges emerging from Russia’s war against Ukraine.
During the opening session, Snake Island Institute Director of Analytics Catarina Buchatskiy presented the Institute’s work connecting frontline experience with decision-makers and innovators. Senior Analyst Maksym Terzi shared findings from the report Holding Back the Sky, focusing on the evolution of Ukraine’s air defense under sustained drone and missile attacks, the growing challenge of interception cost asymmetry, and the development of layered defense architectures against Shahed-type threats.
In cooperation with the 3rd Army Corps, Snake Island Institute developed four operational innovation challenges for participants based on real frontline capability gaps and battlefield needs.
Two of the top three teams chose to work on challenges from this framework:
▪️ Radio Pepsi (2nd place) developed airborne RF detection and tracking systems for mobile aerial drone hunting.
▪️ Eagle Eye (3rd place) created a real-time thermal detection system combining AI-based classification with early sensor fusion for low-visibility environments.
The hackathon also featured a presentation by “Boche,” Head of the R&D Lab of the Anti-Aircraft Regiment of the 3rd Army Corps, who spoke about conducting applied R&D within active military units, adapting development cycles to battlefield conditions, and building direct feedback loops between soldiers and engineering teams.
The event demonstrated the importance of cooperation between frontline units, analysts, and engineers in accelerating Ukraine’s defense innovation ecosystem and strengthening coordination across operational and technical communities.
