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Kyiv, Dec. 28 (AP) — Ukraine has bought about 1,400 drones, mainly for reconnaissance, and plans to develop explosive drones capable of attacking Russians during their invasion of the country, the Ukrainian government’s minister in charge of technology said. Human-machine combat model.
In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov described Russia’s war in Ukraine as the first major war of the internet age.
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He believes drones and satellite internet systems like Elon Musk’s Starlink have changed the conflict.
Ukraine has bought drones like the Fly Eye, a small drone used for intelligence, battlefield surveillance and reconnaissance.
“The next stage, now that we have more or less reconnaissance drones, is attack drones,” Fedorov said.
“These are explosive drones and drones that fly 3 to 10 kilometers and hit the target,” he said.
He predicted “more attack drone missions” in the future, but would not elaborate.
“We were there talking about drones, drones, drones that we developed in Ukraine. Well, anyway, this will be the next step in the development of technology,” he said.
Russian authorities have claimed that Ukrainian drones have carried out numerous strikes on their military bases in recent weeks, including an attack on Monday in which they said Russian forces shot down an Engels Air Force aircraft that approached more than 600 kilometers (more than 370 miles) from the Ukrainian border Base drones.
The Russian military said three service members were killed by the debris, but no aircraft were damaged. The base hosts Tu-95 and Tu-160 nuclear strategic bombers, which were involved in attacks on Ukraine.
Ukrainian authorities have never officially acknowledged conducting such drone strikes, but they have hinted vaguely at how Russia might expect retaliation for its war in Ukraine, including on Russian soil.
Fedorov said Ukraine is researching and developing drones that can strike and shoot down other drones.
In recent weeks, Russia has carried out airstrikes on Ukrainian territory using Iranian-made Shahed drones, in addition to rocket, cruise missile and artillery attacks.
“I can already say that the drone situation will change dramatically in February or March,” he said.
Fedorov sat in his bright, modern office for the interview. The room, in a staid ministry building, contained a turntable, history books stacked on shelves and a treadmill.
The minister stressed the importance of mobile communications for both civilian and military use during war, saying that the most challenging places to maintain service are Donetsk, Zaporozhye, Odessa and Kyiv region.
At times, fewer than half of the cell towers in the capital, Kyiv, were operational because Russian airstrikes knocked out or damaged the infrastructure that powers them, he said.
Ukraine has about 30,000 mobile phone towers, and the government is now trying to connect them to generators so they can keep working if airstrikes damage the grid.
The only option right now is a satellite system like Starlink, and Ukrainians may rely on it even more if the outages start to prolong.
“We should understand that in this case Starlinks and towers connected to generators will become the basic internet infrastructure,” Federov said.
Many towns faced power outages of up to 10 hours. Fedorov said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had signed a decree instructing mobile phone companies to ensure they would be able to provide a signal in the event of a power outage of at least three days.
Meanwhile, his ministry, with the support of EU partners, is working to add 10,000 Starlink stations to Ukraine and bring internet service to the public through hundreds of “invincible points” that provide hot drinks, heated spaces, electricity and shelter. People displaced by fighting or power outages.
About 24,000 Starlink stations are already operational in Ukraine. Musk’s company SpaceX began delivering them early in the war, after Fedorov sent the billionaire a request.
“I just got on my knees and begged them to start working in Ukraine and promised we would set a world record,” he recalls.
Fedorov compared the satellite terminal donated by Space X to the multiple rocket launchers provided by the United States, arguing that this is important for Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russian aggression.
“Thousands of lives were saved,” he said.
In addition to civilian applications, Starlink is helping frontline surveillance drone operators target artillery strikes on Russian assets and positions. Fedorov said his team now spends 70 percent of its time working on military technology. The ministry was established only three years ago.
Supplying drones to the military is one of its main missions.
“We need to do more than people expect of us, progress will not wait,” Fedorov said, mocking Russia’s skills in the drone field.
“I don’t believe in their technological potential at all,” he added. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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