The pace of technology transformation in the Ukraine-Russia war reaches a level requiring the development of new devices in the fight against Russian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) every fortnight. Ukrainian engineers from Kvertus go to the front lines and then return to the lab to design new technology that can counter adapted Russian UAVs, according to The Times.
The high speed of invention of new devices in warfare is paramount. In order to keep up with Russia’s rapidly evolving weapons developments, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have switched to hedgehog backpacks and high-tech ground robots in an attempt to stay ahead of Russia’s killer drones. Apart from that, the incoming weapons on the front line do not last long at all before the Russians figure out a way to disable them.
The $6,000 high-tech hedgehog backpacks, developed by Ukrainian technology company Kvertus and named for the number of antennas on it, will be used to neutralise Russian drones as its radiating wires act as a dome-shaped shield. The rollout of the new anti-drone equipment on the Ukrainian front line is expected to begin in four weeks’ time.
Besides the hedgehog backpacks, the company developed a $100,000 ground robot, an unmanned ground vehicle, also equipped with antennas, that can knock out UAVs by blocking their GPS signals. In addition, the robot can serve to transport soldiers from the battlefield, which will be especially useful for the wounded, as it has been previously reported that most soldiers who died on the battlefield were killed by drones.
In accordance with Kvertus’ commercial director Serhii Skorik, the concept came up after a Ukrainian commander informed him that troops were unable to transport wounded soldiers from the battlefield due to the large number of Russian drones circling in the sky, which are constantly in the process of detecting Ukrainian army soldiers. The antennas create an effective dome that blocks any signals at a distance of up to 300 metres. If the device is pointed in any one direction, it can disable a drone up to 9.6 kilometres away.
The speed at which devices are created in conflict is beyond comparison to other countries. For instance, in the United Kingdom, it takes years to develop drone and anti-drone technology. Engineers in Ukraine have to create new technology every few weeks to keep up with Russia’s pace of developing new weapons, as the latter greatly excels at creating new weapons when previous ones become obsolete, Skorik said.
UK Defence Secretary John Healey admits that the speed of invention of new weapons and “reinvention” seems impossible enough for a British department with a notorious reputation for delayed and over-funded defence projects. General Roland Walker urged a review of British defence that should lead to a reorganisation of the procurement system.
