Germany and US to create universal software for Ukrainian drones - FT
Photo: Germany and the United States will create universal software for Ukrainian drones (Getty Images)
The German defense concern Rheinmetall has started cooperation with the American company Auterion. They will develop common operating standards for managing autonomous drones, the Financial Times reports.
“In a general shift from manned to unmanned systems, it is crucial that the autonomous systems can talk to each other,” said Auterion CEO Lorenz Meier.
It is worth noting that Ukrainian drones are already using the company's software. According to him, Auterion's operating system will help “customer to combine all drones on a common basis and to integrate different manufacturers into a common architecture.”
At the same time, Rheinmetall's Chief Digital Officer Timo Haas noted that more than two hundred different unmanned aerial systems are in operation in Ukraine. At the same time, their “military training is very costly and time-consuming, and system interoperability is not guaranteed.”
“The development of a homogeneous operating system will enable the efficient and scalable deployment of unmanned systems,” he added.
According to the uotlet, Auterion is already part of the US Department of Defense's initiative to develop an open source standard for autonomous systems. The company hopes its partnership with Rheinmetall will help promote a similar approach among NATO allies.
If “every country in NATO has its own drone communications standard, NATO would not be able to fight together,” Mayer added.
Rheinmetall in Ukraine
At the end of October, Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said that his company had opened its first plant in Ukraine. Four such plants will be built, and one of them will produce ammunition.
Later, we wrote that Ukraine has been receiving new satellite images from SAR satellites since October. This is possible thanks to the cooperation of the defense concern, Rheinmetall, and the satellite operator, ICEYE.
