Croatian drone technology firm ORQA is partnering with Ukrainian manufacturer General Cherry to build underground component factories in Ukraine, offering NATO defense companies a lesson in wartime production resilience as modern conflicts demand decentralized, distributed supply chains under constant threat.
Building Underground to Survive Constant Attacks
As Business Insider reported, the joint venture between ORQA and General Cherry seeks to develop and manufacture interceptor drones and counter-drone systems across both Croatia and Ukraine. The partnership involves establishing an underground factory within Ukraine to produce specialized drone components locally rather than shipping finished goods from NATO territory.
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ORQA Chief Executive Officer Srđan Kovačević explained that operating inside Ukraine teaches valuable lessons in manufacturing while under attack. Ukrainian defense firms routinely split production across multiple sites, relocate frequently, and move operations underground to evade Russian targeting. While this distributed approach introduces economic downsides, it provides resilience by eliminating single points of failure.
Distributed systems are much more resilient to any disruption than concentrated systems, centralized systems. It’s simply about not having a single point of failure.
Kovačević noted that Western defense companies have often abstracted and neglected the lived experience of building and scaling under fire. However, European thinking is shifting as defense leaders recognize that distributed networks reinforce resilience even with economic downsides.
European Defense Officials Weigh Distributed Manufacturing
Raivis Melnis, the defense minister of Latvia, pointed out that NATO defense companies operate in a far more concentrated manner than their Ukrainian counterparts. The question facing the alliance is whether European industry is ready to produce systems in different, dispersed locations.
Similarly, Karmo Saar, the head of sales for Estonian drone maker Krattworks, warned that in a war with Russia, if European companies don’t disperse more, they are going to be punished. At the same time, industry leaders acknowledge the operational friction involved. Achi, CEO of the Ukrainian-Estonian defense technology firm Ark Robotics, noted that such defensive measures are necessary but not ideal, as operations would be easier with everything in one place.
| Company | Country | Role in Partnership |
|---|---|---|
| ORQA | Croatia | Co-developing interceptor systems and supplying NATO allies |
| General Cherry | Ukraine | Manufacturing components underground and scaling local production |
| Ark Robotics | Ukraine / Estonia | Building ground robots and navigating distributed operations |
| Krattworks | Estonia | Advocating for decentralized European defense manufacturing |
Bridging Western Technology with Ukrainian Operational Reality
While some Ukrainian defense companies have established secondary operations on NATO soil to escape constant airstrikes, ORQA chose to invest directly inside Ukraine. Importing components manufactured in Europe proved more expensive and less efficient than localizing production alongside General Cherry.
The partnership aims to combine Western technological depth with Ukraine’s lived experience of applying technology to the operational reality of 21st-century warfare. In Croatia, the partners are establishing a joint serial-production facility for co-developed counter-drone systems destined for NATO. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian facility will focus on producing electronic and communication components to support both domestic needs and broader allied requirements, while actively reducing reliance on Chinese supply chains.
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