International Defense Industry Turns to Ukraine for Battlefield Innovation
Ukraine is increasingly establishing itself as a center for advanced military technology, as evidenced by the decision of Lithuanian drone manufacturer Granta Autonomy to consciously purchase Ukrainian-made components.
The Gaze reports on it, referring to Business Insider.
The Lithuanian company Granta Autonomy actively cooperates with Ukrainian drone manufacturers, purchasing components that were created and refined directly on the battlefield. Its CEO, Gediminas Guoba, emphasizes that such technologies are unique because they were either invented in the conditions of modern warfare.
“They were adapted or they were invented on the battlefield and are available in Ukraine only,” he explained.
That is why Ukrainian developments are considered more practical and suitable for the real needs of war than their foreign counterparts.
For example, antenna masts manufactured in Ukraine are better suited for mobile use in difficult conditions, where large and cumbersome foreign-made systems prove ineffective. The situation is similar with detonators, which are manufactured in Ukraine specifically for drones and on a large scale, something that other countries lack.
Due to restrictions on the export of Ukrainian military components, Granta Autonomy integrates Ukrainian parts directly in Ukraine. Thus, the company's drones, which receive Ukrainian components, are assembled and transferred for use by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
This not only supports the Ukrainian defense industry but also gives Western manufacturers the opportunity to gain invaluable experience and technology that arises in the most challenging combat conditions of today.
Granta Autonomy has already delivered a thousand GA-10FPV-AI quadcopters to Ukraine and signed contracts for several thousand more, as well as supplying drones to the Lithuanian armed forces.
Guoba said that he and his team regularly visit Ukraine because "there are really a lot of things we need to learn."
He noted being on the battlefield and hearing directly from operators is a completely different experience, adding that his company views ideas as real products only after they’ve been combat-tested in Ukraine.
Moreover, Luke Pollard, the UK's armed forces minister, said in May: "If you are a drone company and you do not have your kit on the front line in Ukraine, you might as well give up."
Inspired by Ukrainian innovations, NATO and European countries, particularly Denmark, are encouraging their defense companies to collaborate with Ukrainian firms in order to learn new approaches and technologies.
Troels Lund Poulsen, the defense minister of NATO ally Denmark, said that the Danish defense industry can "get some of the lessons learned from the defense companies in Ukraine back to Danish defense companies."
As The Gaze informed earlier, the Ukrainian technology cluster Brave1 has already accepted 45 foreign applications for weapons testing as part of the Test in Ukraine initiative.