Ukraine industry chief sees bumper year for land-based drones

The head of Ukraine’s strategic industries declared 2024 “the year of land systems” as his country rushes more drones to the battlefield.

“You will see more of them on the frontline,” said Oleksandr Kamyshin, speaking with reporters on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington. “That’s one of the game changers we expect in the nearest 12 months.”

Uncrewed weapons have been key to Ukraine’s self defense to this point in the war. Naval drones have afflicted Russia’s fleet in the Black Sea — which has needed to move farther east after having around 20 ships sunk or damaged. And aerial drones have become crucial for targeting and attacks on the front lines, where some 10,000 are lost every month.

Dressed in his usual black polo and fatigue-style pants, Kamyshin spoke at an event to promote Ukraine’s state-owned defense industry: Ukroboronprom. His comments followed a presentation on what Kyiv could produce on its own and where it needs help from foreign governments, defense companies and venture capitalists.

The increase in ground robotics Kamyshin predicted will come from manufacturers inside Ukraine, a sprawling network of volunteer, commercial and state-backed efforts. It also includes American companies partnering with Ukrainian firms to help improve their own kit.

Adam Bry, head of the drone maker Skydio, told Defense News in an interview last month that Ukrainian drone builders are the most advanced in the world. The land-based drones will perform a variety of missions, Kamyshin said, including demining, medical evacuation and combat itself.

This photo, circulated on Russian Telegram channels in May, purports to show a Ukraine unmanned ground vehicle captured by Russian forces. (Telegram)

Their main use, though, will be lightening some of the burden on Ukrainian soldiers fighting near the 600-mile front line. Ukraine lowered its eligible draft age from 27 to 25 earlier this year to help with some of its personnel shortages while fighting a much larger neighbor.

“The main point [is that] we try to get our people back from the front line,” Kamyshin said.

In addition, he said Ukraine’s aerial drones were already using artificial intelligence to target Russian positions and that the use of such software would expand in the coming year.

The Pentagon itself is pushing to use more autonomous as it faces a size disadvantage of its own: against China in the Indo-Pacific. In the last several years, the U.S. government has reviewed its policies on artificial intelligence and warfare, one part of the Replicator initiative — an effort to rush more drones to military leaders in the Pacific.

“We do our best to keep in mind all those ethical things, but at this point we have to work out a solution that will get more Russians out of my country,” Kamyshin said. “That’s the ethical dilemma we have now.”

Drones are one of Ukraine’s many equipment needs.

The country is still trying to source more artillery shells after a yearslong ramp up in the west. To do so, Kamyshin said, it will need two things: explosive components like TNT and money. The U.S. State Department, along with other countries, announced $2 billion in Foreign Military Financing for Ukraine’s defense industry earlier this year.

The money will help mature Ukraine’s domestic production in the long-term, but Kamyshin said it wasn’t enough.

“We are looking for another $10 [billion] to $15 billion,” he said.

Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.

乌克兰战略工业负责人宣布 2024 年为“陆地系统之年”，该国正加速向战场输送更多无人机。

“你们会在前线看到更多这样的士兵，”奥列克桑德·卡梅申在华盛顿北约峰会间隙接受记者采访时说。“这是我们预计在未来12个月内将发生改变局势的因素之一。”

在战争至今，无人武器一直是乌克兰自卫的关键。海军无人机重创了俄罗斯在黑海的舰队——约有20艘舰艇被击沉或受损，迫使其向东转移。而空中无人机在前线的目标定位和攻击中也发挥了至关重要的作用，那里每月约有1万架无人机损失。

卡米申身着他标志性的黑色polo衫和工装裤，出席了一场旨在推广乌克兰国有国防工业公司——乌克兰国防工业公司（Ukroboronprom）的活动并发表讲话。此前，活动组织方介绍了基辅能够自主生产的产品以及需要外国政府、国防企业和风险投资家帮助的领域。

卡米申预测，地面机器人技术的增长将主要来自乌克兰国内的制造商，以及由志愿者、商业机构和政府支持组成的庞大网络。此外，还包括美国公司与乌克兰公司合作，帮助其改进自身设备。

无人机制造商Skydio的负责人亚当·布莱上个月在接受《防务新闻》采访时表示，乌克兰的无人机制造商是世界上最先进的。卡米申说，陆基无人机将执行各种任务，包括排雷、医疗后送和作战。

这张照片于5月份在俄罗斯Telegram频道上流传，据称显示的是一辆被俄罗斯军队缴获的乌克兰无人地面车辆。（Telegram）

不过，它们的主要用途是减轻在长达600英里的前线附近作战的乌克兰士兵的部分负担。今年早些时候，乌克兰将征兵年龄从27岁降至25岁，以缓解其在与一个体量远大于自己的邻国作战时面临的人员短缺问题。

“关键是我们要努力让我们的人员从前线撤回来，”卡米申说。

此外，他还表示，乌克兰的无人机已经开始使用人工智能来瞄准俄罗斯的目标，而且这种软件的使用将在未来一年内扩大。

五角大楼自身也在推动更多地使用自主无人机，因为其在印太地区面临着规模上的劣势：与中国的对抗。过去几年，美国政府一直在重新审视其人工智能与战争政策，这是“复制者”计划的一部分——该计划旨在尽快向太平洋地区的军事领导人交付更多无人机。

“我们尽力兼顾所有这些道德因素，但目前我们必须找到一个能让更多俄罗斯人离开我国的办法，”卡米申说。“这就是我们现在面临的道德困境。”

无人机是乌克兰众多急需的设备之一。

在西方国家持续多年增产之后，乌克兰仍在努力寻找更多炮弹来源。卡梅申表示，为此需要两样东西：TNT等爆炸物和资金。今年早些时候，美国国务院与其他国家共同宣布向乌克兰国防工业提供20亿美元的外国军事融资。

从长远来看，这笔资金将有助于乌克兰国内制造业的成熟，但卡米申表示，这还不够。

他说：“我们还需要100亿至150亿美元。”

诺亚·罗伯逊是《防务新闻》的五角大楼记者。他此前曾为《基督教科学箴言报》报道国家安全新闻。他拥有弗吉尼亚州威廉斯堡威廉与玛丽学院的英语和政治学学士学位。