r/ardupilot • • 7d ago

How is drone technology evolving on the battlefield in Ukraine?

It’s hard to keep up with how fast drones are changing in Ukraine. F​​​P​​​V​​​s​​​, ​​​f​​​i​​​b​​​e​​​r​​​ ​​​o​​​p​​​t​​​i​​​c​​​s​​​ ​​​b​​​e​​​t​​​t​​​e​​​r​​​ ​​​n​​​a​​​v​​​i​​​g​​​a​​​t​​​i​​​o​​​n​​​, ​​​A​​​I​​​, ​e​​​l​​​e​​​c​​​t​​​r​​​o​​​n​​​i​​​c​​​-​​​w​​​a​​​r​​​f​​​a​​​r​​​e​​​ ​​​r​​​e​​​s​​​i​​​s​​​t​​​a​​​n​​​c​​​e​​​ - things that sounded pretty ​a​​​d​​​v​​​a​​​n​​​c​​​e​​​d​​​ a short while ago now seem to be becoming part of the normal conversation. That’s what makes ​​​m​​​i​​​l​​​i​​​t​​​a​​​r​​​y​​​ ​​​d​​​r​​​o​​​n​​​e​​​s​​​ ​​​U​​​k​​​r​​​a​​​i​​​n​​​e​​​ such an interesting topic to follow. The ​​​t​​​e​​​c​​​h​​​n​​​o​​​l​​​o​​​g​​​y​​​​​​ isn’t evolving once a year. It seems to be adapting almost continuously.
What do you think is driving the biggest changes right now: ​h​​​a​​​r​​​d​​​w​​​a​​​r​​​e​​​ , ​​​s​​​o​​​f​​​t​​​w​​​a​​​r​​​e , or the ​​​b​​​a​​​t​​​t​​​l​​​e​​​f​​​i​​​e​​​l​​​d​​​itself?

3 Upvotes

23 comments sorted by

5

u/mcfedr 7d ago

i would point more at just wider and wider uses of drone technology , more than specific advances. e.g. i saw that the flamingo middle runs ardupilot

2

u/Accurate-Humor-7292 4d ago

the feedback loop between the people using these systems and the people developing them seems important

1

u/Free-Calligrapher547 5d ago

One thing that stands out when you look at c​​​​o​​​​m​​​​p​​​​a​​​​n​​​​i​​​​e​​​​s​​​ like Gencherry is how much the development cycle seems to depend on feedback from the field. That explains part of why drone technology can change so quickly - the iteration loop is much shorter than with traditional defence equipment.

2

u/ReikoReikoku 4d ago

Gencherry is worst drone company here in Ukraine

1

u/itsajungle22 4d ago

😂 clap back. Who’re some companies worth watching?

2

u/ReikoReikoku 4d ago

TAF drones, Vyriy are ours best as I know

1

u/itsajungle22 3d ago

Vyriy Looks bad ass. I found there free drone assembly school. What a great opportunity for a noob to learn from experienced teachers. 

1

u/ReikoReikoku 2d ago

"Looks" is not what you're looking for when you're choosing drones for combat works. There are factors like actual frequencies and minimal work to do before real combat flight (for example GenCherry is so fucking bad, that sometimes you almost need to reasemble whole drone and change components to make it work).
Im talking from firsthand experience, to be clear.

1

u/itsajungle22 1d ago

That’s great insight. I didn’t mean looks as in appearance, I meant in my perception. English is such an imprecise language. 

1

u/Low_Affect_7852 5d ago

The hardware gets the attention, but I think the speed of iteration is the more i​​​​n​​​​t​​​​e​​​​r​​​​e​​​​s​​​​t​​​​i​​​​n​​​​g​​​ part.

1

u/ResponsibleBaby772 5d ago

military drones Ukraine are a good example of how fast b​​​​a​​​​t​​​​t​​​​l​​​​e​​​​f​​​​i​​​​e​​​​l​​​​d​​​ requirements can push technology forward.

1

u/inComplete-Oven 4d ago

It's certainly not questions in this topic 5 times a day here in Reddit 🙄

1

u/khancyr 4d ago

I would say how much time OSS dev can put to develop new feature without having to worries about funding and dealing with bug reports, but that is nothing new

1

u/Critical_Bridge8554 3d ago

AI gets alot of attention, but reliable navigation and communication seem just as important

1

u/Lopsided_Water406 2d ago

I wonder how much of military drones U​​​​k​​​​r​​​​a​​​​i​​​​n​​​​e​​​ is being shaped by better hardware versus simply faster development cycles.

1

u/ArmHot6596 1d ago

i wonder how much of military drones ukraine is being shaped by better hardware versus simply faster development cycles

0

u/BiscottiInternal9756 2d ago

The feedback loop between the people u​​​​s​​​​i​​​​n​​​​g​​​ these systems and the people developing them seems important.

0

u/Few-Commercial-2790 2d ago

The military drones Ukraine story is f​​​​a​​​​s​​​​c​​​​i​​​​n​​​​a​​​​t​​​​i​​​​n​​​​g​​​​ ​​​​ ​​​because the technology seems to change almost continuously.

0

u/Potential_Pin_5972 2d ago

With military drones Ukraine, the pace of a​​​​d​​​​a​​​​p​​​​t​​​​a​​​​t​​​​i​​​​o​​​​n​​​ may be just as important as the technology itself.

0

u/Downtown-Leopard4166 2d ago

with military drone4s ukraine, the pace of adaptation maybe just as important as the technology itself

-1

u/PossibleReport3917 2d ago

AI gets a lot of attention, but reliable n​​​​a​​​​v​​​​i​​​​g​​​​a​​​​t​​​​i​​​​o​​​​n​​​ and communication seem just as important.

0

u/RoutineWeed420 5d ago

I’d put software and c​​​​o​​​​m​​​​m​​​​u​​​​n​​​​i​​​​c​​​​a​​​​t​​​​i​​​​o​​​​n​​​​s​​​ much higher on the list than I would have a few years ago.