russian-Ukrainian war quite clearly demonstrated the importance of drones on the battlefield, used for reconnaissance and strike missions plus numerous other tasks, and critically the vital significance of rapidly adapting to battlefield changes otherwise the enemy gains significant advantage in this direction.
Western countries are implementing their own changes in this direction, having had quite over-regulated policy regarding unmanned aerial vehicles before 2022.
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Today, various countries should abandon defining ideal capabilities within UAV procurement processes and actively implement phased capability demonstrations within competition among different companies.
This opinion was expressed in conversation with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung by Saab CEO Micael Johansson.This would allow armed forces to procure usable equipment much faster, he emphasizes.
Johansson stresses the need for close defense industry cooperation with military, as the latter must be involved in drone development: Previously such close cooperation was considered problematic, but Ukraine demonstrated its necessity in modern realities.
Defense Express notes that Western companies today have a unique opportunity to test their drones in battlefield's challenging conditions in Ukraine a bright example is German company Quantum Systems, which not without help from our military who conveyed their observations about various shortcomings of their drones, today becomes the main UAV supplier to the Bundeswehr.
Saab emphasizes it's important to supply armed forces not with a perfect but "good enough product," then refine it "like iPhone" improving software, integrating new sensors and weapons, etc.
Meanwhile, the state can arrange something like "drone subscription," when government monthly pays companies for scaling up unmanned aerial vehicle production. Because, again, the battlefield changes very rapidly, especially regarding unmanned technologies what’s relevant today may not work at all tomorrow.
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