BRAVE1 Newsletter #5
The newsletter by the BRAVE1 team covers the Ukrainian defense tech ecosystem, global trends of the sphere, and reports.
Content
UA Defense tech ecosystem
The capabilities of the Ukrainian defense industry have tripled since last year
The goal is to localize as much production as possible in Ukraine for national security. According to forecasts, in 2024, it will grow six times.
Parliament of Ukraine adopts State Budget for 2024
The Budget provides for an increase in funding for the development of the defence industry, particularly for the production of weapons – UAH 51 billion, as well as UAH 43.3 billion for marine drones and UAVs.
Ukrainian Defense Industry Enters SIPRI Top 100 Ranking: 81st?
A task to multiply the production of mortar mines, to start the production of artillery - Lieutenant General Ivan Gavrilyuk, Ministry of Defense?
— In the 2024 state budget, 255 billion hryvnias are allocated to the article "armaments, military equipment and ammunition" for the Armed Forces. Of these, 175 billion are earmarked for missile weapons and ammunition. 83.2 billion for purchasing weapons and military equipment, including 30 billion the Ministry of Statistics allocated for purchasing UAVs. By the way, in total, more than 43 billion hryvnias are planned for the purchase of drones next year. 24 billion for the repairing of vehicles. I repeat that the lion's share of the financial resources will be directed to loading the production capacities of the defense-industrial complex of Ukraine. In order to give work to enterprises, to support the economy of the state in the current difficult time.
Mykhailo Fedorov : Every piece of equipment, every trench, every military site should be protected by electronic warfare
Dozens of draft laws have already been passed, and a resolution was recently adopted to facilitate the approval of UAVs and electronic warfare equipment. This will allow companies to officially sell their products to the state, and the military to get new technology on the front line.
The Cabinet of Ministers appointed a new head of the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine
Before his appointment, Yuriy Myronenko was the commander of the UAV strike company operating in the Zaporizhzhia region. He has the Silver Cross award.
Economy Ministry launches accelerator for demining startups
Ukraine has launched an accelerator program in cooperation with the Kyiv School of Economics for startup companies that focus on humanitarian demining, the Economy Ministry
ТОР Ukrainian War Inventions. Invisibility Cloaks, Ground Combat Robots, Drones, Vehicles United24 Media
Military-tech companies in Ukraine — big guide by DOU
Ukrainian AI startup Swarmer, which has a goal of simplifying drone operations with AI, has secured funding from the D3 Venture Capital Firm and accelerator
Hands for wings. Ukrainian companies produce about 50,000 FPV drones every month, hundreds of thousands are needed. How the shortage of personnel slows down the industry
“Drones are sexy, but logistics, medical care, software, and communications are crucial.” Interview with Mathias Eklof , investor in Ukraine’s startups
?This year, we hope to make two more defense tech investments in November-December. It’s a very interesting area for several reasons. The first thing is: you can help Ukraine win the war faster. And the second thing is: you can also make money. And if you can make money out of it, it means it’s more long-term. You can take this earned money and reinvest it into more, and more, and more startups in the same space. That’s the idea. AIN
The first digital war: the head of cyber security of the SBU on battles and counterattacks in the network
Defence Intelligence of Ukraine and Come Back Alive Foundation Open “Black Box”. What’s Inside?
The “Black Box” includes a Ukrainian-made attack drone “Bober” (“Beaver”). This barrage munition is capable to cover a distance of up to 800 kilometres. In total, over eight months of its existence, the “Black Box” has caused more than $900,000,000 in damage to terrorist russia!
International stakeholders in Ukraine
Rheinmetall aims to start production of armored vehicles in Ukraine in 2024
Five Italian companies joined the Alliance of Defense Industries
The Alliance of Defense Industries, established at the initiative of the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, joined by Larimart S.p.A. - Leonardo Company , FINCANTIERI , Elettronica, Iveco Group Defense Vehicles and FAE GROUP S.P.A. ?
Creation of joint ventures and localization of production in Ukraine – Ukraine and France are working to expand cooperation: Yuliia Svyrydenko
French companies are interested in investing in Ukraine’s strategically important sectors, including defense, agricultural production and processing, renewable energy, gas production and storage, green metallurgy, environmentally friendly transport, healthcare and pharmaceuticals.
Rheinmetall AG and Ukroboronprom JSC created a joint venture
"The joint venture will maintain and repair equipment supplied by our partners to Ukraine. Also, the localization of the production of leading models of Rheinmetall AG equipment will take place at this enterprise," said the head of the Ukrainian government.
Global Media?
The Economist : Ukraine’s commander-in-chief on the breakthrough he needs to beat Russia
General Valery Zaluzhny admits the war is at a stalemate
纽约时报 : The Invisible War in Ukraine Being Fought Over Radio Waves
Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: “The war in Ukraine has been the performance-enhancing drug for NATO’s electromagnetic thinking. It has been the thing that concentrates minds.”
The Washington Post : Ukraine aid’s best-kept secret: Most of the money stays in the U.S.A.
The impact of military aid to Ukraine on the U.S. arms industry: Government spending analysis related to the USD 68 billion in military aid to Ukraine shows that about 90% of these funds have been retained within the United States. We have identified 117 production lines in at least 31 states and 71 cities where American workers are producing major weapons systems for Ukraine.
The Guardian : Ukraine’s arms industry boss calls for country to be ‘arsenal of the free world’
?“For the next decades, defence should be the major industry in Ukraine. After the war it should be our core export product.” Now, Kamyshin wants to revive the state sector, as well as coordinate the myriad small private enterprises that have sprung up to make weapons for the Ukrainian army, ranging from big companies to a few people tinkering in a shed. There are already more than 200 Ukrainian companies making drones, said Alexander Kamyshin , and many more with promising ideas.
The Associated Press : Pentagon’s AI initiatives accelerate hard decisions on lethal autonomous weapons
领英推荐
Ukraine, AI provided by the Pentagon and its NATO allies helps thwart Russian aggression. NATO allies share intelligence from data gathered by satellites, drones and humans, some aggregated with software from U.S. contractor Palantir. Some data comes from Maven, the Pentagon’s pathfinding AI project now mostly managed by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, say officials including retired Air Force Gen. Jack Shanahan, the inaugural Pentagon AI director.
POLITICO : Internet of Tanks: NATO courts the tech scene
NATO’s assistant secretary-general for Emerging Security Challenges David van Weel said NATO is already pushing the European Investment Bank (EIB) to realize the market opportunities in security and defense. “Up until a few years ago, defense was definitely not seen as Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG). My opinion is that you should actually add a D to ESG and that's defense ... If you don't have security, you can't have ESG.”
DefenseScoop : Anduril Industries unveils Roadrunner & Roadrunner-M
Roadrunner is a VTOL autonomous air vehicle designed to be customized for various missions; Roadrunner-M defines a radical new class of recoverable ground-based air defense capability
TechCrunch : 5 investors have high hopes for defense tech amid growing venture interest
Defense One : Deadly but tricky to fly, suicide drones have Ukraine putting thousands of soldiers through pilot training
Private schools are churning out troops who can use hobbyist racing quadcopters as deadly loitering munitions
The Recursive : From Combat Robots to AI in Peacekeeping, Explore Revolutionary CEE Defense Tech Trends for 2024
The latest trends that are set to reshape the defense tech space amid the intricate web of geopolitical challenges: Artificial Intelligence and Мachine Learning, 3D printing/Аdditive Мanufacturing, Quantum Тechnologies, Unmanned systems (Drones and UAVs), Simulation systems and VR for military training, Space-based defense systems, Hypersonic weapons, Biotechnology for soldier enhancement and robotics, Collaboration between software developers and weapons manufacturers
War on the Rocks Media LLC : LEARNING FROM REAL WARS: GAZA AND UKRAINE by Samuel Bendett
Intelligence Online : Jamming wars, part 5: Kyiv deploys newly developed ETER electronic warfare system
Why we win: The new wave of investment in defense
Defense Ventures Summit 2023
The goal of the Defense Ventures Summit is to bring together a critical mass of future-obsessed US Military, US allies, investors, and founders at the cutting edge of emerging technology
BRAVE1: interviews, columns, events
Co-founded by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, the Ministry of Strategic Industries of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, BRAVE1 is the one-of-a-kind entry point for cooperation in Ukrainian defense tech: companies, government, defense forces, investors, volunteer funds, media, and all who join forces for victory through technologies.
7 months after the launch of the Ukrainian Defense Tech cluster BRAVE1:
Interviews with & about BRAVE1
Forbes Ukraine: "Before full-scale invasion in Ukraine, seven types of UAVs were put into operation. Today - 62". How does the Brave1 defense cluster work, which was allocated UAH 1.5 billion for military startups. Blitz interview with Nataliia Kushnerska
RBK Ukraine: Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation on Musk, smart mobilization and technological war against Russia
First, There are more military projects that can realize themselves in the new wartime economy. And for this we created the Brave1 cluster. If you have an idea you want to get a grant to start this idea, submit an application; there is a certain board that considers applications and gives irrevocable grants; there is an opportunity to get in touch with the General Staff from the Ministry of Defense. Next year, funding for this program will increase tenfold.
Second, you need to understand that this is a technology war. Today, drones, EW, protection of our equipment from enemy drones, situational awareness systems, and satellite communications are important components of technological warfare.
AIN: Ukraine’s defense tech cluster BRAVE1 to invest $39M in startups in 2024. How is it working
NV: Six months after the launch of Brave1 by Nataliia Kushnerska
Voice of America: The Pentagon is working with US military-industrial companies to speed up weapons production
The representative of the Ukrainian defense tech cluster Brave1 Nataliia Kushnerska said in an interview with Voice of America that Ukraine is currently "very actively engaged in the development of its own technological defense solutions", among which, first of all, there are military drones, navigation systems, geolocation, systems demining, medical systems, etc.
Defence Tech in Ukraine: Areas for Collaboration and Investment | #UkraineTechDay
Chair: Fred Sugden, Associate Director of Defence, techUK?
Nataliia Kushnerska, Project Lead at Ukrainian defence tech cluster Brave1 [Online]
Alexander Stepura, Founder and CEO, Skyeton (Drones and UAVs)
John Ridge, Director of Defence Innovation, UK Ministry of Defence
Ned Baker, Director of Programmes & Head of Ukraine, Helsing.ai
Hugo Jammes, Managing Partner, National Strategic Security Investment Fund (NSSIF)
#Brave1 UAV Shoolika – night hunter
Militarnyi about Ukrainian UAV Shoolika: the system capable of carrying a payload weighing 4 kg and operating at a distance of 7-10 km. Designed and engineered to strike occupiers at night.
#Brave1 Ukrainian version of RunFlat. Armored wheels for protecting the personnel and cars.
Reports
The Future of Drones in Ukraine: A Report from the DIU-Brave1 Warsaw Conference by CSET
Book of Ukrainian Tech 2022-H1 2023: ADAPT & EVOLVE
Investment Digest InVenture (November 2023)
The State of European Tech 2023?