Never has Vladimir Putin imagined that Ukraine resists so long in the Russian bear. But, three years later, kyiv still holds the high dragee in Moscow. At a time when Donald Trump lets go of the old continent to get closer to the Kremlin, the European Union must learn and apply now the method that has enabled Ukrainians to accomplish this real military miracle. His precepts resemble a nebulous start -up mantra – decentralized innovation, speed, scalability. But the results are very concrete.
Faced with the urgency of the war, kyiv favored public and private cooperation in the field of defense. Simplified the regulations that frame it. Imprisible tax the emergence of start-ups developing innovative military technologies. Since the start of the invasion, more than 200 ammunition companies have thus emerged. And the solid drone industry that came out of earth produced nearly two million units last year.
Harmonious cooperation
The agility of the Ukrainian army is also based on the Brave1 platform Who helps start-ups and soldiers to cooperate harmoniously. It is it which allows soldiers to the front to quickly transmit their opinions on the updates received by their equipment, allowing engineers to correct any defect with speed and to improve their systems permanently.
As these weapons are distinguished by their software layer more than by their physical characteristics, they are inexpensive to manufacture and can be produced en masse. Many drones used by kyiv are partly manufactured with trade components and cost between 300 and 1,000 dollars. “The idea is to use them in swarm with more than suicide bomber units in order to drown the enemy under a cloud of drones,” explains Pacôme Révillon, CEO of Novaspace, a consulting company specializing in the space sector, notably the satellite industry.
“Remove fighters from the combat zone”
Ukraine designs its weapons so that they are as modular as possible. Small bricks containing the encrypted chips that guide these machines can generally slip into various armaments systems. A method that bears fruit. “Before going, I did not meet a single Ukrainian soldier on the battlefield. That drones. In quantity,” explains the testimony of a Russian soldier mentioned in a recent report of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
Ukrainian drones now inflict substantial losses on the Russian opponent. According to the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), of 60 to 70 % Russian side damage has been caused by tactical models. The objective of the Ukrainians, notes the CSIS, is “to remove all its fighters from the combat zone proper”. Last December, kyiv also led an entire operation without a human team for the first time, but with dozens of terrestrial robots near the village of Lyptsi, north of Kharkiv.
“Ukraine has particularly innovated in the maritime field, using unanswered boats to carry out attacks in swarm”, Pointe Pacôme Révillon. The government of Volodymyr Zelensky is now accelerating on land drones, and it has approved no less than 33 new models between January and October. “A much more complex area than the air or maritime environment, due to the profusion of obstacles on the ground,” recalls the specialist.
But kyiv’s expertise in the defense AI allows him prowess. The Ukrainian army knows, for example, now lead to artificial intelligences to recognize the noise of enemy drones with a tiny amount of data – a week of audio recording. More generally, AI has automated 99 % of the analysis of sounds and texts for the extraction of information in Ukraine. And autonomous navigation multiplies three to four times the chances that a drone is reaching its target, indicates the CSIS.
Drones limits
The technological advantage has a limit: it is temporary. Brading capacities are sophisticated. Camouflages adapt. The opponent copies you. Moreover, if so many companies specializing in defense technologies lend a hand to Ukraine, it is also because they draw valuable information. It is by leading to AI on real theaters of operations that we teach them to precisely detect the targets. The danger is always to have a war of delay.
Specialists know that within five to ten years, thanks to technologies such as “Direct to use” Who will connect smartphones directly to satellites, drone models currently too small to embark antennas can be connected tomorrow thanks to small light phones. Drons will be able, moreover, make wise decisions with much more autonomy.
These modern weapons nevertheless have limits. They are a complement, in no case a substitute for conventional weapons. In the Rusi report, an officer explains it clearly, pointing to the hours he put, using only FPV drones, immobilizing a Russian tank when two minutes were enough to destroy three opposing tanks with five shells. Ukraine, however, shows Europe that financial resources are not the only victory factor. An organization stimulating military innovation and its rapid dissemination gives a decisive advantage over the opponent, even when the latter is better equipped.
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