Facing significant manpower shortages and challenging odds, Ukraine is seeking a strategic advantage against Russia through innovative means, specifically in abandoned warehouses and factory basements.
An extensive network of laboratories across hundreds of clandestine workshops is driving innovation to develop a robot army. This effort aims to target Russian forces while protecting Ukrainian soldiers and civilians.
According to industry estimates, approximately 250 defense startups in Ukraine are producing these robotic devices in secret locations, often resembling rural car repair shops.
At one such startup, led by entrepreneur Andrii Denysenko, an unmanned ground vehicle named Odyssey can be assembled in just four days within a company shed. The key advantage of Odyssey is its cost: $35,000, significantly cheaper than imported models.
To safeguard the infrastructure and personnel, Denysenko requested that specific details about the location remain undisclosed.
The site is divided into small rooms designated for various tasks such as welding, bodywork, and the fabrication of fiberglass cargo beds. The vehicles are spray-painted gun-green and equipped with basic electronics, battery-powered engines, standard cameras, and thermal sensors.
Ukraine’s military is currently evaluating numerous new unmanned air, ground, and marine vehicles produced by this startup sector, which operates with a straightforward and economical approach, distinct from large Western defense companies.
In May, Ukraine established a fourth branch of its military, the Unmanned Systems Forces, joining the army, navy, and air force.
Engineers are leveraging ideas from defense magazines and online videos to create cost-effective platforms. These platforms can later be enhanced with weapons or advanced components.
“We are confronting a vast nation with virtually unlimited resources. We recognize that we cannot afford to sacrifice many lives,” said Denysenko, head of the defense startup UkrPrototyp. “War is about numbers.”
Last month, one of their drones, the car-sized Odyssey, demonstrated its capabilities in a northern cornfield. The 800-kilogram prototype, resembling a small, turretless tank on tracks, can travel up to 30 kilometers on a single battery charge.
This prototype serves as a rescue and supply vehicle but can be adapted to carry a remotely operated heavy machine gun or mine-clearing equipment.
“Squads of robots will function as logistics devices, tow trucks, minelayers, deminers, and self-destructive units,” a government fundraising page stated following the launch of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces. “The initial robots are already proving effective on the battlefield.”
Mykhailo Fedorov, the Deputy Prime Minister for Digital Transformation, is encouraging citizens to participate in free online courses to assemble aerial drones at home, with the goal of producing one million flying machines annually.
“More of them will appear soon,” the fundraising page noted. “Many more.”
Denysenko’s company is also developing projects such as a motorized exoskeleton to enhance soldier strength and carrier vehicles for transporting equipment and aiding soldiers on inclines. “We will do everything possible to accelerate the development of unmanned technologies. (Russia’s) soldiers are used as cannon fodder, while we lose our finest people,” Fedorov stated in an online post.
Ukraine’s arsenal includes semi-autonomous attack drones and counter-drone weapons equipped with AI. The combination of inexpensive weapons and artificial intelligence is raising concerns among experts about the potential for widespread use of low-cost drones.
Technology leaders, including those at the United Nations and the Vatican, are concerned that drones and AI in weapons could lower the threshold for killing and significantly intensify conflicts.
Human Rights Watch and other international rights organizations are advocating for a ban on weapons that operate without human decision-making, a concern echoed by the U.N. General Assembly, Elon Musk, and the founders of the Google-owned, London-based startup DeepMind.
“Cheaper drones will lead to their proliferation,” said Toby Walsh, a professor of artificial intelligence at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. “Their autonomy is also only likely to increase.”
