The Fourth Law secures strategic investment to accelerate drone AI development for Ukraine.
The Fourth Law (TFL), a Kyiv-headquartered defence technology company, has secured a new round of funding backed by Axon, the American public safety technology group.
TFL builds AI and robotics for defence and public safety. Its flagship products—the Lupynis-10-TFL-1 UAV and the TFL-1 autonomy module—are in active service with more than 50 Ukrainian military units across multiple sections of the front line. The company’s first-level autonomy doubles to quadruples FPV drone mission success rates, adding just 10 per cent to unit cost.
Its most recent product, TFL-AntiShahed, is a module for interceptor drones that uses on-the-edge AI to detect and highlight strike drones—including the Russian-Iranian Shahed and Geran types—far faster than the human eye can manage.
TFL’s autonomy technology is designed to work across platforms. Beyond its own Lupynis-10, the company’s AI modules have been integrated with dozens of third-party UAV manufacturers. They can be fitted to external airframes, paired with different ground stations, and operated across various connectivity architectures.
“This is a major milestone on our mission of strengthening the defensibility of Ukraine and the Free World,” said Yaroslav Azhnyuk, founder and chief executive of The Fourth Law. “Axon may be the most prominent investor to back a Ukraine-born defence tech company to date. The funding will go toward R&D on new autonomy capabilities required to protect cities and critical infrastructure from Shahed-type attacks.”
Investors increasingly recognise that Ukraine is innovating drone technology at a pace most of the world isn’t built to match.
“Teams like The Fourth Law are developing autonomy under real battlefield constraints, where systems are built, tested, and improved in real time,” says Rick Smith, founder and chief executive of Axon. “We’re investing because the world can learn how drones are developed and deployed in Ukraine, and we believe even more solutions with global relevance will emerge from the work companies like The Fourth Law are doing.”
“We first met Axon through BRAVE1, Ukraine’s defence tech cluster. After Rick Smith met [Minister of Defence of Ukraine] Mykhailo Fedorov, BRAVE1 introduced our teams and supported the process that led to this investment. It’s a good example of how the defence innovation ecosystem BRAVE1 has built in Ukraine is designed to work,” added Azhnyuk.
Fedorov himself also commented on the deal, saying, “AI is transforming the landscape of warfare. Autonomous technologies are driving precision, accelerating decision-making, and saving soldiers’ lives. The partnership between The Fourth Law and Axon highlights the rise of Ukrainian defence-tech firms as global leaders defining the future of security.”
Photo: The Fourth Wall.