THE WEAPON OF IDEAS

The war that Ukraine has been fighting since 2014—and especially since the full-scale invasion in 2022—has revealed not just the crisis of the Soviet military legacy, but the urgent need to create an entirely new army. Not cosmetic reforms. Not "NATO standardization" on paper. We need a radical transformation: a complete rethinking of philosophy, structure, command principles, and armament.

This text is an appeal to practitioners, volunteers, commanders, veterans, developers, and engaged citizens. We are not merely surviving—we are building a model of a future army for a new world.

An Army as a Platform, Not a Hierarchy

In the Soviet army, there was a principle: "I’m the boss — you’re an idiot." This mentality bred a rigid caste system, inflexible hierarchies, and the belief that the general staff was the sole "brain of the army."
But a modern army is not a pyramid — it is an ecosystem. A platform where military professionals, engineers, logistics units, R&D centers, volunteers, private companies, and universities act as equal partners. Not a vertical system, but a horizontal network.

Transformation Through Technology

Ukraine has already become a global innovation hub for drones and military tech. What Yuri Kasyanov’s foundation has done, how volunteers are assembling FPV drones, how systems like the Black Hornet Nano reach the frontlines — none of this came from government offices. This is a technological revolution born from the people.

Yet the system resists. Bureaucracy demands “compliance with tables of organization,” tender protocols, approvals. But drones are needed today, not in six months. That’s why our document proposes express integration of innovation—via regulatory sandboxes, front-line testing, and direct procurement mechanisms.

The Soldier at the Center

Ukrainian troops are not expendable. Unlike Russia’s tactics of human-wave assaults, we value the life, health, and dignity of our soldiers. The law granting demobilization after captivity is not just a gesture — it’s a foundational value.

A professional military is not just a contract. It is a social package, combat injury insurance, fair pay, education and career prospects. It is prestige. And that’s what we’re defending in our proposal.

Those Already Building the Future

Volunteer medics delivering Estonian field medical kits. Teams designing drone swarms. Cyber specialists working on autonomous strike systems. These are the people creating the future army—without waiting for orders.

But they need recognition in the system. We must establish transparent procurement, defense innovation funds, and fast-track paths for front-line tested tech. Otherwise, we risk losing our greatest advantage: agility and initiative.

Ideas That Win Wars

We’ve been working on a concept paper that brings together everything: from command culture to smart weapons, from battlefield medicine to military education. We don’t claim final truth. But we believe that transformation begins with ideas.

We need allies. Not approvers, not formal patrons. But people who think in terms of tomorrow. People who are not afraid to act. People who already embody the change they want to see in Ukraine’s Armed Forces.

Join the conversation. Share your insight. Help shape a truly 21st-century army. Victory begins not in the trenches—but in how we think.

By Ibragim Ghabidulin, retired colonel, PhD, military and insurance systems expert