2024-04-11 03:14 Compiled by United Daily News Zhou Chenyang/Comprehensive Report A Ukrainian soldier tested a drone on the front line.Reuters
The Wall Street Journal reported on the 10th that on the battlefield in Ukraine against Russia, the small drones of most new American companies performed poorly, making it difficult for various American companies to use battlefield tests to boost sales and attention. It’s also bad news for the U.S. Department of Defense, which needs a reliable supply of thousands of small unmanned aerial vehicles.
According to reports, the Russia-Ukraine war was the first war in which small drones played a prominent role, but American companies did not perform. Drone company executives, front-line Ukrainian military, Ukrainian government officials and former U.S. Department of Defense officials all said that U.S.-made drones tend to be expensive, have constant glitches, and are difficult to repair.
For example, the Silicon Valley company Skydio sent hundreds of its best drones to Ukraine to assist in the war, but the progress was not smooth. They veered off course and disappeared, and they became victims of the Russian military’s electronic warfare, which required the company to redesign to build a new fleet. CEO Bligh said that “the general reputation of U.S. drones of all levels in Ukraine is that they do not work as well as other systems” and admitted that his drones “are not a very successful platform on the front line.”
According to the report, Ukrainian officials found that U.S.-made drones were quite fragile and could not overcome Russian jamming and GPS jamming technology. They were sometimes unable to take off, complete missions or return to base; they often failed to fly as far as advertised, and they were unable to carry enough explosives. .
The Ukrainian charity group “Back Alive” has provided more than 30,000 drones to the military, and analyst Byleskov said that small American drones for battlefield use are “not advanced enough.” Executives of U.S. drone companies said that they did not expect the electronic warfare on the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield to be so intense; executives of many start-up companies also said that the U.S. imposed restrictions on drone parts and testing, limiting what they could build. Finished product and build speed.
Reports say Ukraine has turned to cheaper Chinese products to fill its drone arsenal. Ukraine has found a way to obtain tens of thousands of drones and parts from the mainland. The Ukrainian army is using off-the-shelf land-made drones, mainly from Shenzhen DJI, and has also developed a domestic drone industry that relies on land-made parts.
Dubinsky, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, who oversees the drone program, said that Ukraine hopes to test and use more American drones, and “we are looking for cost-effective solutions.”
Ukraine Russia Russia-Ukraine War
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2024-04-10 19:14:21
