US learns from Ukraine to build high-quality drones - WSJ

American startups have spent billions of dollars in venture capital in the hope of developing small drones that the Pentagon needs for future conflicts. But many of them produce only expensive aircraft that do not fly very well. Meanwhile, Ukrainian drone manufacturers have mastered mass production of drones despite limited resources and are looking for new customers and capital.

Now both sides are teaming up, and this alliance is attracting the attention of the US Department of Defense.

In particular, last year, the Southern California startup CX2 signed a deal to install its software and sensors on Ukrainian drones. This agreement was approved by a unit of the US military and may soon be used by US troops.

Nathan Mintz, co-founder of CX2, stated that no American company could compete with Ukraine. He explained that Ukraine's products were reliable and that they had a high-stakes laboratory specifically designed to test all of their equipment.

The Department of Defense's interest in Ukrainian drones underscores the challenges faced by US drone startups and the achievements of Ukrainians since the Russian invasion. Despite the Pentagon's view that small, autonomous drones are needed and a funding priority, this sentiment has failed to spur a boom in the US drone industry.

The Department of Defense estimates that the United States can produce up to 100,000 drones a year. Last year, Ukraine built more than two million drones. Some of the Ukrainian-made drones that the Defense Ministry wants can fly hundreds of kilometers with explosives and have been used in attacks in Russia.

Ukrainian drone manufacturers are starting to think about the future after the war, as the US and Ukraine continue to negotiate a possible peace process. Any diplomatic twists and turns in the plot are unlikely to destroy the bond that has developed between US and Ukrainian drone startups or negate the Defense Department's efforts to introduce advanced innovations from Ukraine, Defense Department officials and startup founders said.

"Drone capital of the world"

For Ukrainian startups, growth depends on entering markets outside the country. To make the drone sector a catalyst for economic growth after the war, startups want to attract American customers and investors.

Derek Whitley, co-founder of Vivum, a startup that sells artificial intelligence software for autonomous systems to the Defense Ministry, says that Ukraine has made it clear that it intends to become the drone capital of the world after this war is over.

Ukrainian drones are often sold for one-tenth the cost of US variants. They have proven on the battlefield that they can operate when radio and satellite communications are blocked by electronic interference.

American startups are slower to build, deliver, and upgrade their drones, which also often fail to withstand harsh electronic warfare. Many US companies that have brought their drones to Ukraine have seen them fall out of the sky or fail to complete missions.

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), a division of the US Department of Defense that supplies new technology to the military, has awarded contracts to two Ukrainian-American partnerships for the first time in recent weeks. The companies will test their long-range strike drones this spring in Ukraine, where they are manufactured, and then have the opportunity to compete for production contracts with the Pentagon.

Another Pittsburgh-based startup, KEF Robotics, has formed a joint venture with Sensorama Lab, a Ukrainian company, to create software and sensor systems in Kyiv that will allow drones to navigate congested airspace and find targets while remaining relatively undetected. The joint venture, called Blue Arrow, has received orders from the European military and is raising funding from American venture capitalists. It will test its drones with an elite Ukrainian unit on the front line.

Olha Pohoda, co-founder of Blue Arrow, says that no one in the United States can keep up with the level of production in Ukraine.

Colonel Vadym Sukharevskyi, commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that NATO armed forces are not ready for modern warfare with the use of drones.