Robotization is not enough to defeat the Russians, says Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov, but its development is one of the keys to the conflict and it must be “integrated into culture” of the Ukrainian army. On the night of Thursday 8 to Friday 9 August, in parallel with a ground incursion, the first of its kind on Russian territory, Ukrainian forces claimed responsibility for a drone attack on an air base in the Lipetsk region.
What accomplishments of your ministry have had the greatest impact on the battlefield?
This is the “Drone Army” project, which consisted of creating a highly competitive market that would encourage very high volumes of drone production. By 2023, production had increased 120-fold. We went from several thousand to a million units this year, and even more. The market for ground robotic platforms is also booming, as are electronic warfare systems, both on a tactical and strategic scale. The same goes for artificial intelligence and the production of drone munitions.
We are looking for fundamental technologies for war, and we are doing everything to open and stimulate markets, to launch orders and purchases of these products. [des chiens robots, destinés à effectuer des missions périlleuses, comme l’inspection de tranchées russes, ou la détection de mines, sont actuellement testés en Ukraine]. Based on the Brave1 project [pépinière de projets de haute technologie militaire sur le modèle de l’agence américaine Darpa]we separately develop scientific, research and development expertise, which allows us to cultivate talents and finance them.
The Russian Lancet (long-range loitering munition) has demonstrated a strong impact on the battlefield. At what stage of development is the equivalent Ukrainian project?
Seven companies are showing quite good results. Two of them have already received contracts and have launched industrial production with hundreds or even thousands of units, which are already used on the front, with a range of between 40 and 60 kilometers. The others are in the testing phase or with small contracts.
In January, you encouraged Ukrainians to assemble drones at home. However, production is already extremely fragmented, and many manufacturers complain about bureaucracy and slow certification for the military. Where is the right balance between competition and the need to scale up arms production?
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Source: Lemonde
