Ukrainian Revolution: How Drones, Technology Replaced Artillery, Tanks

Ukraine is redefining warfare – and Kyiv Post will show you the inventions and products that are setting new standards of military art and shaping a new agenda in combat operations. Make us preferred on Google Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied Alex, CPO of an Electronic warfare producing company, shows their last masterpiece - Electronic anti-drone complex, designed and produced in Ukraine (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) Content Share Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn Bluesky Email Copy Copied Flip Make us preferred on Google Ukraine has become a true innovator in war. Russia’s colossal military advantage in equipment, tanks, and artillery left no alternative and led to a real military-technological revolution. In 2022, Western military “experts” did not give Ukraine much of a chance due to Russia’s multiple advantages in tanks, guns, aircraft, and manpower. However, Ukraine has been holding out for more than four years against a nuclear state with a military budget ten times larger. And Ukraine is delivering painful retaliatory strikes that undermine the Russian economy. How is Ukraine managing this? Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official . Of course, mass mobilization of volunteers helped to hold the line – Ukraine’s ground forces still rely on them. The substantial assistance from Western allies also played a major role, beginning in the summer of 2022 – after Ukraine had already pushed Russian troops away from Kyiv and Chernihiv. Russia’s underestimation of Ukraine’s capabilities also played a role. But this does not explain how Ukraine is destroying thousands of Russian troops daily without the requisite artillery and shells consensus demands. How does Ukraine sink Russian ships without having a fleet? How does Kyiv destroy Russian oil refineries and military plants without having missiles? The answer is simple – military technology . The shortage of manpower, conventional types of weapons, and ammunition pushed Ukrainians to increasingly rely on unmanned systems. Other Topics of Interest Senators Blast Weak US Position on Ukraine Lawmakers clashed over US votes on Ukraine at the UN and the administration’s reluctance to call Putin “a war criminal.” Drones on the factory, prepared for delivery (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) And while in 2022 this was mostly reconnaissance and artillery coordination, now drones perform almost all tasks of artillery, tanks, infantry, and logistics forces. They not only destroy enemy equipment and personnel in numbers exceeding Russia’s monthly mobilization, but they cut logistics, lay mines here, and de-mine there, deliver medicine and food, evacuate the wounded, and sink enemy ships. Unmanned systems have turned the largest war since World War II into a true war of robots. We are heading to innovative systems manufacturers to see how they are setting new standards of combat operations ahead of their time. Meet this little one – it could easily compete with Curiosity on Mars, but instead it performs tasks on Earth. This development by the Ukrainian company Numo Robotics has gone from a startup to an indispensable assistant, and hundreds of its units are already performing various tasks at the front. UGV by Numo Robotics (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) It can independently traverse rough terrain, and its cross-country capability is impressive. UGV by Numo Robotics (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) Nazar Pryimak, CEO Numo Robotics“We have a special panel here where you can connect two batteries and double the capacity and autonomy of the UGV. At first they could travel 20 kilometers, but when the kill zone expanded, we increased battery capacity and the thickness of components to enhance protection – some parts became armored,” - Nazar Pryimak, Executive Director of Numo Robotics Company, that developed UGV, said. “Kill zone” is what they call the area extending 10–15 kilometers from the front line, where all living things are destroyed by enemy drones. Large kill zones are a new phenomenon in this war, and the movement of medical crews in such conditions does not provide help to the wounded – it only risks the lives of the medics themselves. This is where such robots come in. They evacuate the wounded, deliver supplies to positions, and sometimes even fire weapons. Nazar Pryimak, Numo Robotics Executive Director (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) “A “dump” system will also be installed. That is, the UGV arrives and unloads all cargo, so soldiers do not need to leave covered positions. The UGV will be able to unload autonomously. In addition, there is a hood that can be opened to service the motor, check the drive tension, and the battery can be replaced in just a few minutes,” – Pryimak noticed. Nazar Pryimak says that requirements are constantly changing. His company has more than 100 active chats with the military, who continuously generate new requests and needs for new machines. UGV in the field (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) “Our team has about 100 people. We are a full-cycle company, meaning we have R&D where we constantly improve our UGVs, and we have production where we can manufacture more than 200 units per month. We also have our own service. We believe service is part of our product, because we want to provide the military not only with a solution like a UGV, but also with support. We also have service centers in Dnipro and Kharkiv, where our workshops are located. Our service teams travel to the military in frontline cities, either repairing UGVs the same day or taking them to our workshops,” - Pryimak told. Electronic warfare as a new wave of milltech But the enemy is also actively using similar technologies. That is why Ukraine is also developing protection against enemy drones – electronic warfare systems. The company “Abacus-Tech” produces thousands of such electronic countermeasure systems – from low-frequency to high-frequency, covering the full spectrum of drone applications. Alex, one of the company’s founders, demonstrates one of them. “It’s hemisphere defense system that could use by vehicles, by some guys in position and with a lot of different weapons or supply units as an. Right now we cover all popular diapasons of FPVs and it’s always race with FPV to give all the echo zones to militaries. First of all it defends people, the main resource of this war. And the second one option we have is to use defense technic as tanks as any vehicles that make logistics with this device,” – Alex, CPO of Abacus-Tech Company, said. CPO of Abacus-Tech Alex with his system "Nameth-D" (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) The system called “Nameth-D” (meaning “tent” in Ukrainian) includes a concentrator, a control unit, and the antennas themselves – or, as they are popularly called, “pots,” or, as soldiers call them, “boobs” – which are responsible for jamming the signal of enemy drones. Antenas ("boobs") of Abacus-Tech Electronic Warfare system (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) “We have about two years of field usage, and all systems are still operational. Last year, we produced more than 1,000 sets. Some systems have four antennas, while others have eight. It depends on our customers,” – Alex noticed. Electronic warfare system concentrator by Abacus-Tech (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) Even the popular FPV drones are evolving at an incredible pace. Andriy Malyshev, head of IRV, which produces drones in the thousands per month, says that the evolution of FPV even over the past year has been remarkable. “We have different modifications with different camera is allocard carry two that can fly 65 minutes empty with 3 kilogram payload, it can fly 35 minutes for 15 kilometers dropping some stuff for help out. It’s like supply drone or it can be like a bomber or it can be like a spy drone, ” - Andriy Malyshev, CEO of IRV Company, said. CEO of IRV Company Angriy Malyshev with their production (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) A key indicator of quality is devices like these – slightly outdated, already half a year old, but still returning intact for servicing after several hundred successful flights. “This baby has 400 flights, starting from September, and now he comes back to take a service. It’s a bomber, but now they use it more as a supply drone,” – Malyshev shows. Malyshev shows 400-flight drone (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) It is also important that most components in all these products are Ukrainian. If in 2022–2023 everything was mainly assembled from Chinese components, now most of them are produced here, in Ukraine. For example, Ukrainian motors. Ukrainian flight controllers. Ukrainian frame electronic speed controller, optical stabilization and navigation, etc. Inside the Malyshev's factory (Photo by Sergii Kostezh/Kyiv Post) “And we believe this is our superpower, because many Ukrainian teams have started developing miltech solutions, and we look for the best solutions on the market and try to integrate them. This could be Ukrainian communication systems, EW systems, or modular systems.Yes, our production is not 100% Ukrainian, but we strive for that. We are looking for Ukrainian manufacturers of motors and other components to increasingly replace imported parts currently used in our drone,” – Pryimak said. Ultimately, Ukrainian manufacturers, including those from these companies that are part of one of the clusters producing advanced weapons and technologies in Ukraine, are looking for export opportunities to countries that are partners and allies of Ukraine. And which may soon need such solutions in response to threats from Russia and amid Trump’s threats to take the United States home and leave the NATO alliance. “I believe that in all countries where there is a risk of ground conflicts, ground drones are needed. That is, in all countries where there is land, there is either an aggressive neighbor that may attack, or there is a risk of military. The contribution of UGVs to the modern security role of our world is still quite underdeveloped, and UGVs will still have their say on the battlefield,” Pryimak tells. “It’s like taking technology together, creating something new for defense Europe and Ukraine and for cooperation with some manufacturing, maybe with some components that not Chinese made. For now we wanted to collaborate our knowledge, knowledge and technology Europe to create something new that can help to defend our country. And we can test it in real battlefield,” – Malyshev says. You can find a recap of this story here .