Player Profile / Cyberlux Corporation

The Ukrainian End-User Record

End-User Certificate · Foreign Military Financing Beneficiary · Undelivered Hardware

Ukraine's armed forces are the end user of record for the Cyberlux K8 drone contract. The End User Certificate — signed by Colonel Oleksandr Yevgenovych Pavlenko at the Logistics Hub in Rzeszow, Poland on August 13, 2022, and by Commander Andriy Valeriyovych Mazalenko on August 15, 2022 — established Ukraine's formal certification as the intended recipient of the drone platform under U.S. State Department export authority.

Bottom Line

What this profile says up front

01
On August 13–15, 2022, Ukrainian military officers signed an End User Certificate for 1,000 Cyberlux K8 drones — classified under USML Category VIII(a)(5) — at a total certified value of $38,704,000: exactly the amount of the advance payment that arrived in Cyberlux's account thirteen months later.
02
Of the 2,000 drones contracted under the August 2023 HII subcontract, the U.S. government formally accepted 392 under DD-250 records. The remaining 1,608 — credited to Cyberlux in the Modification 4 settlement — are documented in interpleader filings as variously incomplete, untested, or never started. Upon information and belief, the hardware is warehoused at Naval Station Crane, Indiana.
03
The EUC per-unit implied value was $38,704. Schmidt's March 2022 Signal chat stated the all-in production cost was $4,700. The gap between what was certified to the Ukrainian military and what it costs to build the item is $33,000 per drone, across a 1,000-unit commitment, with no public explanation.
04
Ukraine is not a party to the interpleader proceedings. No Ukrainian government communication about the undelivered drones appears in any public filing in the U.S. record. The $23.74M in the Virginia court registry is the residue of an appropriation intended for Ukraine's defence.
Role in the Record

The intended beneficiary that did not receive what was promised — and is not at the table

Ukraine's armed forces are the end user of record for the Cyberlux K8 drone contract. The End User Certificate — signed by Colonel Oleksandr Yevgenovych Pavlenko at the Logistics Hub in Rzeszow, Poland on August 13, 2022, and by Commander Andriy Valeriyovych Mazalenko on August 15, 2022 — established Ukraine's formal certification as the intended recipient of the drone platform under U.S. State Department export authority.

The certification covered 500 FlightEye K8 UAVs with Armor Piercing (AP) Munition Encasement and 500 with HE Dual Purpose (HEDP) Munition Encasement — both classified under USML Category VIII(a)(5). The total certified value: $38,704,000. The advance payment received by Cyberlux on September 8, 2023 was $38,700,600. The figures are nearly identical.

This profile does not make findings about Ukrainian government officials or attribute any misconduct to Ukraine. It documents the end-user record: what was certified, what was contracted, what was delivered, and what happened to the money. Ukraine is conspicuously absent from the interpleader proceedings — the forum where the disposition of the FMF funds is being decided.

Key Numbers

The numbers that frame the profile

EUC signed
Aug 13–15, 2022
Rzeszow, Poland · Pavlenko + Mazalenko
EUC certified value
$38,704,000
1,000 drones · USML Category VIII(a)(5)
Advance received
$38,700,600
Sept 8, 2023 · 13 months later
DD-250 accepted
392
Of 2,000 contracted
Hardware not delivered
1,608 drones
Believed at Naval Station Crane, Indiana
Signal chat unit cost
$4,700
Schmidt · March 2022 · vs. $38,704 EUC implied
Analytical Findings

What the record establishes

01 BEDROCK

The End User Certificate: signatories, scope, and value

The End User Certificate was signed on August 13, 2022 by Colonel Oleksandr Yevgenovych Pavlenko, Commander of the Logistics Hub in Rzeszow, Poland, Command of the Logistics Forces, MoD Ukraine. Commander Andriy Valeriyovych Mazalenko, MoD Ukraine, signed on August 15, 2022. The EUC covers 500 K8 UAVs with AP Munition Encasement ($20,254,000 USD) and 500 K8 UAVs with HEDP Munition Encasement ($18,450,000 USD), totalling $38,704,000. The K8 is classified as USML Category VIII(a)(5). The applicant on the certificate is Cyberlux Corporation; Mark D. Schmidt signed as CEO.

Source: End User Certificate · U.S. Department of State Nontransfer and Use Certificate · Cyberlux Contract TimelineSource:
02 BEDROCK

The EUC value and the advance payment: near-identical figures

The EUC total certified value is $38,704,000. The HII advance payment received by Cyberlux on September 8, 2023 was $38,700,600 — a difference of $3,400. The coincidence of these figures is documented in the public record. The advance was drawn from FMF appropriations. The EUC was the authorising document for the export. Whether the EUC value was the basis for the advance payment structure is not established in any public filing, but the figures are materially identical.

Source: EUC (Aug 2022) · HII subcontract advance record · Welter Declaration · Court filingsSource:
03 BEDROCK

The price gap: $4,700 production cost vs. $38,704 EUC implied value

In March 2022 — five months before the EUC was signed — Schmidt stated in a Signal communication that the all-in cost of a K8 drone was $4,700: materials, labour, electronics, and packaging. The EUC implies a per-unit value of $38,704 ($38,704,000 / 1,000 units). The gap is $33,004 per drone. The EUC was signed by Ukrainian military officers certifying to the U.S. Department of State that the articles described are as stated. No public filing explains the relationship between the $4,700 production cost and the $38,704 certified value.

Source: Schmidt Signal chat (March 2022) · EUC (August 2022) · Cyberlux Contract TimelineSource:
04 BEDROCK

Deputy Minister Sharapov's September 2022 formal request

In September 2022, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defence Denis Sharapov sent a formal letter to U.S. Department of Defense, State Department, and U.S. European Command (EUCOM) officials, describing successful testing of the Cyberlux drone platform and requesting 1,000 aircraft with pilot training and maintenance support. This letter elevated the transaction from a commercial discussion into the formal channels of government procurement and security assistance — and preceded the HII subcontract award by approximately eleven months.

Source: Cyberlux Contract Timeline · Prior coverage (March 2026) · Ukrainian MOD letter of request (Sept 2022)Source:
05 BEDROCK

What Ukraine actually received: 392 drones, DD-250 record

The U.S. government formally accepted 392 K8 drones under DD-250 records — valued at $14,954,400. The remaining 1,608 units credited to Cyberlux in the Modification 4 settlement have been classified in interpleader filings as: 37 accepted by HII only (not the government); 745 not factory-acceptance-tested; 526 incomplete or built after the Stop Work Order; 300 for which assembly had not started. Upon information and belief, the undelivered hardware is warehoused at Naval Station Crane, Indiana. Ukraine received 392 drones under a certified commitment for 1,000 — and the operational status of even those 392 is not established in the U.S. court record.

Source: DD-250 acceptance record · HII Modification 4 · Interpleader filings, Doc 0144 · Prior coverageSource:
06 ROCK

Ukraine's absence from the interpleader proceedings

Ukraine — the intended beneficiary of the FMF appropriation and the end user of record — is not a party to the E.D. Va. interpleader proceedings. The $23.74M in the court registry is the residue of a congressional appropriation for Ukraine's security assistance. The competing claimants — commission intermediaries, a litigation finance firm, judgment creditors — are all domestic private parties. No Ukrainian government communication about the undelivered drones appears in any U.S. court filing reviewed for this brief.

Source: Interpleader docket, E.D. Va. 3:25-cv-00483 · 22 U.S.C. § 2751 · FMF programme documentationSource:
Open Questions

What the record does not explain

Q01
What was the basis for the $38,704 per-unit implied value in the EUC, given Schmidt's March 2022 Signal statement that the all-in production cost was $4,700?
Q02
Did Ukrainian military and MoD officials who signed the EUC have access to Cyberlux's actual cost structure, or were they certifying a value provided by Cyberlux?
Q03
What is the current status and operational condition of the 392 drones the U.S. government formally accepted — were they delivered to Ukraine?
Q04
What has become of the 1,608 undelivered drones at Naval Station Crane, Indiana, and has the U.S. government asserted formal ownership?
Q05
Has Ukraine's government been notified of the interpleader proceedings, the disposition of the FMF funds, and the status of the undelivered hardware?
Q06
Was Deputy Minister Sharapov's September 2022 formal request coordinated with Cyberlux, and what was the basis for the specific claim of successful testing?
Q07
Under the FMF appropriations purpose constraint (22 U.S.C. § 2751), does any mechanism exist for Ukraine to assert a claim against the interpleader corpus for undelivered hardware?