What Estonian drone companies are learning from Ukraine

• Estonian companies are getting lightning-quick user feedback and real-world electronic warfare testing, thanks to hands-on experiments in Ukraine.

• "Once the war in Ukraine started, we just put all these different [commercial] developments aside,” said Raul Rikk, capability development director at drone vehicle manufacturer Milrem. 

• The small Baltic nation has heavily backed Ukraine’s defense, in part due to memories of its own traumatic Soviet occupation, and its 211 mile border with Russia. 

• Alongside wagon-loads of weapons, a number of Estonian companies have gotten involved in helping Ukraine, including Milrem, quadcopter producer Krattworks, and others.

• In December 2022, Germany announced it would pay to send 14 of Milrem’s THeMIS vehicles to Ukraine, with packages designed for evacuating wounded soldiers and route clearance. 

• Ukraine’s military was soon sending a stream of feedback to the company, said Rikk. “Even the guy who was operating [the drone]” sent feedback at first, he said. 

• For one, Ukraine wanted more ballistic protection for the medical vehicles. Ukraine also requested better night vision capabilities so the machines could operate at night.

• *Yet another request was counter-jamming technology. Russia frequently uses electronic warfare devices, which have felled many U.S. precision weapons sent to Ukraine.*

• THeMIS’s autonomous navigation is helpful in navigating while jammed, said Rikk, as it allows the vehicle to plow on even without a signal from its operators. But it’s no easy task. Autonomous UGVs have to determine which bodies of water can be forded and which can’t, as well as which obstacles it can push through. 

Read more here: https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2024/07/what-estonian-drone-companies-are-learning-ukraine/397810/

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