Ukraine Plans to Launch ‘Army of Robots’ After Drone Program Success

After the success of the “Army of Drones,” Ukraine is now launching similar programs to attract investment and develop technologies needed to deter and repel the Russian invasion.

Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov announced the “Army of Electronic Warfare (EW)” and “Army of Robots” programs during the Forbes Tech 2023 conference in Lviv, western Ukraine, on Nov. 23.

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According to Fedorov, the program would be a comprehensive framework that encompasses technological and business developments with a focus on scalability, and more details will follow.

“We will rely on our ideology – market opening, transparency and the maximum opportunity to attract entrepreneurs who have already created various products and know how to scale products," said Fedorov.

Fedorov’s announcement came after the success of “Army of Drones,” a systematic campaign featuring Star Wars actor Mark Hamill as the ambassador. The program included the purchase, maintenance and deployment of drones in the ongoing war, where they have been used to attack Russian positions to great effect.

The new program will likely follow the same model as the “Army of Drones” program.

He also referenced Brave1, a Ukrainian grant project that coordinates and grants funding to defense tech companies, and he encouraged companies to submit their proposals. He added that the project will have issued more than $2 million worth of grants by the end of the year.

Ukraine Battles to Hold Back Russia Advance

Moscow seized 278 square kilometers (107 square miles) of Ukrainian territory between May 9 and 15, according to AFP calculations based on data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Ukraine is one of the major tech and startup hubs in Eastern Europe, giving birth to notable startups such as Grammarly and Preply which have since grown globally.

According to a report, the tech sector contributed $7.35 billion, close to 4.5 percent of the GDP, to Ukraine’s economy in 2022.

Ukraine’s top commander, General Valery Zaluzhny, previously stated that Ukraine and Russia are now entering a “stalemate” unless a technological breakthrough could be archived by either side.

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Leo Chiu

Leo Chiu is a news reporter residing in Eastern Europe since 2015 with a profound interest in geopolitics, having witnessed two presidential elections in Belarus and visited numerous contested regions worldwide. He believes in the human side of journalism and that there's a story to be told behind every number and statistic.