At the opening of Ukraine's biggest defence tech fair, arms executives and government officials were welcomed by a giant movie screen blaring an action-style trailer with heavy base undertones.

The two-day event is part of Ukraine's bid to position itself as a leader in military innovation and encourage hesitant foreign investment, more than three and a half years into the Russian invasion.

"We need to forget Silicon Valley -- it's the past. Ukraine is the future," Europe's Commissioner for Defence Andrius Kubilius said at the event, which began Tuesday and the details of which were only made public Friday.

The crowd, gathered in the western city of Lviv, applauded.

The idea that Ukraine's Western allies could learn from Kyiv has taken on new weight after more than a dozen Russian drones flew through Poland's airspace last week.

Moscow has denied targeting the NATO member, but for some, the incident exposed the alliance's weaknesses.

Seen from Kyiv, the scrambling of jets and firing of advanced missiles to try to down the drones was an outdated -- and far too expensive --........

© International Business Times