The Fourth Law (TFL), an autonomous robotics company focused on solving massively scalable autonomy for defensive FPV drones, has raised funding from a group of venture funds and angel investors based in the EU, USA, and Canada.
Headquartered in Kyiv, Ukraine, the company’s autonomy-enabling software stack — spanning simulation and analytical tools, autonomous applications, and fleet management systems — is highly transferable across various platforms, including quadcopters, fixed-wing UAVs, missiles, and ground or maritime drones.
It operates entirely independently of satellite navigation (GNSS), ensuring robust functionality in GPS-denied environments. Moreover, this technology has clear applications beyond defence, with potential uses in sectors such as logistics, manufacturing, and construction.
The company’s first products, the TFL-1 autonomy module and the Lupynis-10-TFL-1 UAS, which are operable both day and night, boost the success rate of FPV drone missions by 2 to 5 times, while only increasing costs by 10 to 20 per cent.
This is achieved by handing over control of the drone during the final 500 meters of flight to an onboard computer powered by AI algorithms.
Following several years of R&D and rigorous testing with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, TFL successfully pioneered a unique, multi-level AI system. It is engineered to precisely identify and categorise targets, whether stationary or moving, ensuring high-precision strikes.
The Fourth Law was founded by Yaroslav Azhnyuk, the serial entrepreneur behind Petcube (YC’W16, a global leader in pet cameras, with over 1M devices shipped), Ozero Design, and Fuel Finance.
He is also a co-founder and investor in Odd Systems, a defence technology company specializing in the development and manufacturing of thermal cameras and FPV drones.
According to Azhnyuk, massively scalable drone autonomy is the single most important defence technology of this decade.
“There’s no one on the planet who understands this better than the Ukrainian Defence Forces.
We’re doing the most important work of our lives, and the funding we’ve raised from the investors is an invaluable catalyst to the growing defensive capabilities of the Free World. We will need, however, much more resources to deliver on the full potential of this technology.
We must make sure that the adversaries of democracy and freedom won’t get there faster.”
The company offers Lupynis-10-TFL-1 UAS to the Government and defence Forces while the TFL-1 module, through licensing, is available to other FPV manufacturers.
Сodified and certified, TFL products are in use by the Government of Ukraine and numerous units in the Ukrainian defence Forces who use the products to resolve issues related to electronic warfare, and radio horizon limitations while enhancing their pilots’ precision capability.
Colonel Ruslan Shevchuk, Commander of the 58th Motorised Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, noted:
“Since March 2025, pilots of the 58th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade have been utilising aircraft equipped with the TFL-1 system, which has demonstrated its effectiveness on the battlefield during this period.
It helps us overcome electronic warfare, jamming, acquire, and strike targets in challenging conditions. Its capabilities are most notably demonstrated during special missions. Our operational experience confirms it as a truly effective system.”
The Fourth Law is built on a thesis that by 2030, autonomous robots will be disrupting trillion-dollar industries, including in defence, transportation, agriculture, and construction.
TFL's vision for full and massively scalable autonomy for defensive FPV drones assumes five stages of autonomy:
- Terminal guidance
- Terminal guidance for bombing
- Target detection and engagement
- GPS-denied navigation
- Autonomous take-off and landing
Once that is achieved, second-order products become possible and viable for the modern military requirements, including drone swarms and nests, drone carriers, and fully autonomous interceptors of drones of different types.
Lead image: The Fourth Law CEO and founder, Yaroslav-Azhnyuk. Photo: Sasha Maslov.
Would you like to write the first comment?
Login to post comments