Ukraine and Kvertus: The Front Line’s Counter-Drone Battle
Ukraine has surprised the whole world in many ways over the past almost three years of a full-scale war. Yet, it’s the country’s technological progress amidst the conflict that shocks the world. A Ukrainian defense firm, Kvertus, is actively developing outstanding technologies, shielding the troops against Russian drone swarms. Their land robots and backpacks called “hedgehogs” are now able to disable enemy drones quickly and with no losses.
Kvertus is managing to deliver the technology that brings success due to one simple reason. The company’s commercial director Serhii Skorik says that Kvertus’ engineers are dividing their working hours between laboratories and battlefields. They communicate with soldiers and commanders to investigate real-time needs and then go back to their guarded laboratories to create advanced technologies.
While Western countries take years to develop and test the new, Ukrainian developers and soldiers evolve within weeks.
The War of One-Day Ideas
The UK Ministry of Defense and its senior officials have already called the Ukrainian conflict “the war of one-day ideas”. The name is easy to explain: both sides of the conflict have learned how to quickly adapt to the advances and techniques of each other. This, according to British Defense Secretary John Healey and General Sir Roly Walker, is boosting the pace of Ukraine’s tech evolution and revolution. Both acknowledge that soon Britain will drag behind if they don’t overhaul their defense procurement.
Technology That Saves Soldiers’ Lives
The situation in Bakhmut and a call from the commander of the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade changed everything for Kvertus. There were many soldiers trapped and in need of help. Being under severe drone attacks, they couldn’t be evacuated. A new approach was supposed to be taken.
Kvertus offered their unmanned ground vehicles with antennas blocking the enemy’s GPS signals. The use of the vehicles allowed the evacuation of Ukrainian soldiers. This was the start of the widespread use of unmanned ground vehicles that now can create a 300-meter-wide anti-drone dome and disable targets up to 6 miles (ca. 10 kilometers) away.
“Hedgehog” Backpacks
Kvertus also developed “hedgehog” backpacks featuring many antennas for blocking drones that operate across 50-60 frequency ranges from 100 MHz to 5.8 GHz. This technology is now implemented into British Challenger 2 tanks and has been used during Ukraine’s recent war campaign inside Russia. Altogether, technologies by Kvertus have saved nearly 50,000 soldiers, and more are yet to come.
Ukraine’s Technology Race
According to Kvertus’ CEO Yaroslav Filimonov, Ukraine’s density of drones is remarkable. Today, it equals 800 drones per square mile. And many battles are now won thanks to drones, among many other things.
In 2022, with the full-scale war, Ukraine also started an unprecedentedly fast cycle of innovation and adaptation. Today, firms like Kvertus need from 6 to 8 weeks to develop thousands of new drones and boost more innovative approaches.
According to General Sir Jim Hockenhull, head of UK Strategic Command, the Western world should rethink the pace of its technological innovations. He highlights that this is the time of a technological arms race, and their speed dictates who will become a winner.
