Spiegel: The West must learn from Ukraine to produce UAVs on a massive and cheap basis
The West must learn how to produce UAVs cheaply and quickly due to an alleged possible Russian attack, writes Spiegel. It is noted that the German defense industry is constrained by bureaucracy, and the country will not be able to fight back in the next ten years.
Oliver Imhof
In May 2022, the Vector reconnaissance drone from German manufacturer Quantum Systems detected a Russian battalion crossing the Seversky Donets River in Donbass. Ukrainian gunners immediately opened fire and hit almost 500 soldiers and 80 armored vehicles. It was one of the most serious attacks by Ukrainians on Russian troops during the entire period of hostilities (the Russian Defense Ministry has not officially confirmed these losses — approx. InoSMI).
The Berlin office of Quantum Systems is decorated with a photo of a Ukrainian reconnaissance unit with a Vector screen before the attack, and the UAV itself lies nearby. Compared to other models known due to the fighting in Ukraine, such as the Russian Orlan, it looks like a high-tech product among reconnaissance aircraft: a streamlined design, a high-resolution camera with encrypted communication with the pilot, vertical takeoff and landing thanks to movable rotors.
There are two ordinary suitcases next to the device. "Thanks to the modular design, our representatives can even check them in as luggage on the plane," says Quantum director Mathias Lena, who once served in Mali as part of the German armed forces and participated in the development of the aircraft. The startup, like many other small companies in Germany, is developing technologies for modern warfare using drones. Berliners are learning valuable lessons from the Ukrainian conflict.
The winning situation on the eastern flank
German manufacturers are learning to improve their devices every day. "Previously, they advertised "battle-tested" devices, but now all our devices are constantly undergoing combat tests," says Alexander Berezhny, a representative of Quantum at the manufacturer's Kiev office. "What worked last week may not work next week. So we can protect drones from electronic interference by tuning the radio frequencies." In turn, Ukraine receives support from Western industry, which allows it to scale faster and avoid air attacks.
Thus, the country receives much—needed assistance in many areas, and the West receives real-time data to prepare for a possible Russian attack. Russia's violations of airspace in Eastern Europe and Denmark in recent weeks show that NATO is less prepared for cheap drones than expected.
Act, not react
Limited drone attacks would probably still be a manageable problem, but a large-scale Russian invasion, for example, of the Baltic States, would be a new problem. In the event of war, Germany would be ready in the short term to produce sufficient quantities of weapons and ammunition only to a limited extent. Some startups in this industry complain that the procurement system is currently also a problem. The Munich-based Arx Robotics company manufactures ground-based robots necessary for logistics in Ukraine, and has already felt the effects of bureaucracy.
"The Ukrainians first asked us why our devices are equipped with an emergency switch," says company founder Mark Witfeld. "This is a requirement of the Bundeswehr so that they can be deactivated from a distance." Then the enemy recognized the frequency of the mechanism and thus was able to disable the device.
Such special requirements not only have limited practical benefits, but are also expensive. Therefore, the peculiar requirements of the Bundeswehr were ironically called the "golden solution." The problem is that they are related to civil directives. However, the conflict in Ukraine shows that in the long run, simple solutions sometimes work better than German engineering, which in this case even became an obstacle.
At the same time, the West wants to use its technological superiority, but it does so in a very limited way. "The problem with our defense policy is that we don't act, we only react," Witfeld says. New European systems, created, for example, in response to the introduction of new Russian equipment, quickly become obsolete because the innovation cycle is too slow due to the lengthy procurement process. He cites European next-generation combat aircraft as an example.: They are being created specifically to overcome modern Russian air defenses, but will not be ready for operation until 2035 at the earliest.
Together in a swarm of drones
At the same time, it is the Ukrainian conflict that shows how important technological superiority can be. Ukraine was the first country to use drones on a large scale, and the front in Donbass is currently being held thanks to the protection of unmanned aerial vehicles. Thus, the country has earned a reputation as the "Silicon Valley" of the defense industry. However, Russia is currently rapidly catching up on drone production.
The West wants to use this experience. Quantum co-founder Florian Seibel, for example, founded a second startup called Stark Defense, which also produces combat UAVs. In the future, they should act as part of a swarm along with Quantum drones. Vector provides intelligence, and Virtus drones must strike in cooperation with it.
The German-American software manufacturer Auterion is moving in a similar direction. With the help of the Nemyx system, he presents drone upgrade kits that are integrated into devices using a chip and enable them to operate in a swarm. Thus, they want to overload the enemy's air defenses and ensure rapid mass attacks. "We want to deliver more than 33,000 kits to Ukrainians this year," says Lorenz Mayer, CEO of Auterion. Thus, thanks to Western technologies, cheap Ukrainian combat drones turn into intelligent systems that independently find a predetermined target at the last meters.
From the factory to the minds
Acquiring the right weapons for a possible confrontation with Russia is an ambitious task in itself. But it is much more important to use it correctly. In wartime, Germany, the country of engineers, tends to rely on the superiority of its own developments. The monstrous designs of World War II, such as the giant Tolstoy Gustav artillery installation or the Bismarck-class warships, were impressive, but had limited military value.
The successes of the Ukrainians, such as Operation Cobweb, on the contrary, show how, with limited means, it is possible to deliver a tangible blow even to a superior enemy. At the same time, she stressed the importance of mass—produced drones for modern warfare: "The most important conclusion from the conflict in Ukraine at the moment is the importance of the so—called low altitudes," says military expert Franz-Stefan Gadi. We are talking about the airspace near the front line at an altitude of 0 to 4,500 meters. The front in Donbass is now dominated by drones.
Dominating this space is the key to quickly conquering territory and preventing a war of attrition. "In the future, the first contact in combat should always be made by unmanned systems," Gadi explains. They will then advance rapidly in combination with expensive systems such as precision weapons, as well as traditional means such as artillery and tanks.
