WP: Ukraine has become a country for developing innovative military products

Ukraine has now become a super laboratory for the development of innovative military products and has a very real opportunity to develop world-class solutions.

The Washington Post writes about this. 

"Ukraine, known for agriculture and heavy industry, is not an obvious place for drone innovation. However, the severity of the war has turned the country into a kind of super lab of invention, attracting investment from vaunted business luminaries, including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt," the article says.

 

It is noted that more than 200 Ukrainian drone companies are now working side by side with military units on the front lines to customize and enhance drones to improve their ability to kill and spy on the enemy.

"It's a 24/7 technological race," commented Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, who is in charge of Ukraine's Army of Drones program, which aims to maximize Kyiv's use of reconnaissance and attack drones to offset Russia's vast superiority in air and artillery.

The Washington Post emphasizes that this particular program helped private companies train more than 10,000 drone operators last year, with the goal of training an additional 10,000 over the next six months.

"Russia's air force is estimated to be 10 times larger than Ukraine's, but Kyiv has kept most of it on the ground after shooting down several fighter jets in the early days of the conflict. The drones have allowed Ukraine to conduct surveillance and hit sensitive targets far behind enemy lines, while improving the accuracy of conventional artillery," the newspaper writes.

The Washington Post describes the advantages of working on technology in Ukraine using the example of jamming technologies, emphasizing that companies can not only develop but also test their products. This is a privilege that the vast majority of international companies specializing in similar industries do not have.

"In the West, you can't just launch a muffler to test your product. You need a special license, and even when you have it, it only applies to a narrow cordoned-off area," former Uber executive Andriy Liskovich, who left Silicon Valley to help Ukraine's military efforts, told the publication.

"That's why this is one of the areas where Ukraine has a very real opportunity to develop a world-class solution," Liskovich said.

 

Drone manufacturers also receive constant feedback from the front lines, allowing them to make immediate adjustments to reduce vulnerability and improve lethality.

"The end-user solution is one of the most difficult and important challenges," said Liskovic.

The project «Ukraine: realities» is implemented by the News agency «Konkurent» together with the Civic Movement «SVIDOMI» and the charity organization Global Empowerment Mission in English for readers from other countries to tell the stories of people who survived the horrors of the Russian occupation.

Проєкт «Ukraine: realities» реалізовується Інформаційним агентством «Конкурент» спільно з Громадянським Рухом «СВІДОМІ» та благодійною організацією Global Empowerment Mission на англійській мові для читачів з інших країн аби розповісти історії людей, які пережили жахи російської окупації.