- Ukraine says it’s designed four upgraded versions of the Chinese-made Mavic drone.
- It said they can conduct reconnaissance behind the front lines and resist electronic warfare.
- Ukraine’s military requested the tech after China limited exports and many drones were shot down.
Ukraine says it’s developed upgraded versions of the Chinese-made Mavic drone after China limited its exports.
Brave1, a Ukrainian government-supported defense innovation program, told Business Insider that three domestic developers had created drones that met NATO standards, and that Ukrainian troops were already using some on the front lines.
Business Insider was unable to independently verify the claim.
The Mavic drone, designed by DJI, one of the world’s largest drone manufacturers, was created for personal and commercial use but has become one of the most widely used drones on the front lines in Ukraine.
However, Ukraine has faced supply challenges.
In December, Bloomberg reported that China was limiting the export of critical components used in Ukraine’s drones, including motors, batteries, and flight controllers.
This, coupled with the drone’s high loss rates — up to five Mavic drones a day in some units — prompted Ukraine to look for alternatives.
New drones for Ukraine
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation, unveiled the new models in a Telegram post in December.
The four drones can carry out reconnaissance missions, Brave1 said, adding that, unlike their Chinese counterparts, the Ukrainian variants are equipped with communication systems that make them resistant to Russia’s electronic warfare.
“These drones significantly enhance the situational awareness of our military, enabling them to plan more effectively and conduct operations more efficiently,” it said, adding that it was “actively working on scaling up production to eventually achieve a complete replacement of Mavics.”
Oleksii Kolesnyk, the founder of Reactive Drone, a Ukrainian military company that is developing one of the drones, told BI that its Shmavik drone can fly for up to 60 minutes, has an operation radius of about 9.3 miles, and can carry up to 2.2 pounds.
He said its purpose was to conduct frontline reconnaissance operations and stream live footage from the front.
Maria Korneva, a commercial director at Bravery Invest, a nonprofit, told BI that its Ukropter drone was an upgrade compared to the Mavic drone.
She said it had a heavier payload capacity of over 4 pounds, a longer flight time of up to 60 minutes, and could travel at about 46 miles per hour.
By comparison, the latest Mavic drone has a similar speed but a payload capacity half that, and a flight time of around 46 minutes, according to DJI’s website.
Korneva said its Ukropter drone had been “highly” effective during trials, meeting all technical and tactical specifications, and contributed to saving Ukrainian lives in battlefield conditions.
Breaking dependency on China
Mark Cancian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told BI that these kinds of drones have become “absolutely vital” at this stage in the conflict.
“With the front lines stable, short-range FPV drones have become a major weapon, on par with artillery,” he said.
“If Ukraine cannot get Chinese-made drones, then it needs to make its own,” he added.
John Hardie, deputy director of the Russia Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said Ukraine’s new capability upgrade is a “good thing” for the country — assuming the claims are true.
He told BI that Ukraine’s effort to reduce its dependence on China’s military components is also beneficial.
However, given the Ukrainian minister’s statement that some components are manufactured in Ukraine, he suspects others still come from China.
Hardie also pointed to issues around Ukraine’s domestic production. “Hopefully, it can make these Ukrainian-made drones cheaply and quickly enough to keep up with demand,” he said.
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