Ukraine has a large pool of highly talented software engineers. A small group got together and wrote programs that are now being used in Ukrainian drones. Their ideas and developments are devastating for Putin’s troops.
Lack of ammunition, poor precision of artillery strikes, high costs and poor aerial reconnaissance: these were the problems of the Ukrainian army at the beginning of the war. However, Ukraine is now achieving success primarily with drones, which are deadly for Russian tank crews. A large part of this is due to Ukrainian software engineers who have teamed up to help their people.
A reporter from the Polish news portal “onet” met two of them. They are successful IT entrepreneurs who are now “90 percent” volunteering their knowledge and skills to the Ukrainian military. With the help of all of them, Ukraine is now able to carry out precise drone strikes from the air against Russian targets.
So what did the two developers achieve? They have developed an artificial intelligence that identifies Russian tanks in real time, even when they are under trees or camouflage foil. “This is the first war in which software plays such a large role and artificial intelligence is used on a large scale,” says one of the developers. “Artificial intelligence doesn’t miss a single point, whether it’s hiding under trees or under netting. At most, she can show too many of them. Then it is up to the commander in the field to decide which point to attack.”
But not only the software is special, the drones and their armament are too. Because some of them come from the 3D printer. Their drones only cost $15,000 to $20,000. “A thousand-dollar toy destroys a million-dollar tank,” says one of the developers of the dimensions.
However, the two developers are not the only ones who are making their skills available to the military. Around 1,000 software specialists have joined forces nationwide, they explain. All top people who could earn a lot of money with their ideas. But money is not their motivation, they explain to the portal. It’s revenge.
A Russian missile hit the office of the two drone developers. Some of your colleagues come from Irpin and Butscha – places that have meanwhile become notorious. “Like many people in our industry, we realize that the most important thing now is not the money but winning the war. Because if Russia wins, our companies will cease to exist and we ourselves will be refugees or dead.”
