-1 Kyiv
"The ongoing war in Ukraine is a new phenomenon in the history of military operations. Such a scale and power of the use of artillery, drones, and EW means has never been seen before. In the summer, the average lifespan of one drone was 15–20 sorties. Now the density of both fire damage and the use of EW means is incredible. Therefore, today the lifespan of UAVs at the front is three, maximum of five sorties," he said.
According to the developer, the UAV group must have at least six devices not to sit idle.
"And such supply should be continuous. We thought in the summer and in the fall that such production rates were sufficient for us, but due to the fact that hostilities have intensified, we already see that the capacities we were counting on and for which we purchased our equipment are lacking. That is, I purchased five production lines, but it was necessary to have 10. We are constantly moving forward, and the enemy is moving, but we must move faster. After all, the absence of UAVs and drones is directly proportional to the losses of our fighters," Yatsenko noted.
He emphasized that Ukraine has everything to defeat the enemy in the arms race because the country has experts, money and access to international markets for military and dual-purpose products, particularly modern microchips, and only needs the energy of the Ukrainian entrepreneurs and the support of the government.
"Unlike the enemy, Ukraine has very powerful horizontal ties. This is when we have the opportunity to receive feedback directly from the group using our UAV. We see flaws and fix them almost online. We're also working with a powerful group at the Ministry of Digital Transformation who are doing this kind of ideological work on where we should go from here. And there are also Ministry of Defence units that communicate with us and say what they need," noted the businessman.
According to the developer, Ukraine should move from the "garage" production of drones to industrial production. For this, it is necessary to give Ukrainian entrepreneurs the resources and opportunities for development, particularly a special licensing system to buy the required equipment, create industrial production abroad, and relocate it to Ukraine after the victory.
"Then, immediately after the victory, we will become a state with a state-of-the-art production of certain types of weapons. This is a very interesting topic that can lead Ukraine to the first league of world arms manufacturers. I call on all interested entrepreneurs – our Ukrainian "Steve Jobs" are somewhere near you, who create quite interesting things in garages. Watch and support them. Ukraine, unlike the aggressor country Russia, has the opportunity to buy ultra-modern equipment, ultra-modern microchips and everything necessary for the creation of modern weapons. All we need is the energy of our entrepreneurs," Volodymyr Yatsenko urged.
