Adam Bry, CEO of Skydio, a U.S.-based manufacturer of unmanned aerial systems, told Defense News that his company was starting to hire employees in Ukraine to expand its activities in the region. Bry emphasized that he had "never met drone users as sophisticated as the folks in Ukraine."
As of today, Skydio has already hired up to ten employees in Ukraine, working on design and customer support (likely for drones operated by Ukraine). Further plans include producing certain components, such as systems that enable the UAVs to fly under electronic jamming, and later localizing the production of Skydio's drones in Ukraine.
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Defense News recalls that Skydio has already delivered about a thousand UAVs to the Ukrainian Defense Forces as of February 2022. Ukraine has also expressed interest in acquiring the company's new X10D model, which is also being offered to the U.S. Army as part of the second phase of the short-range reconnaissance program, the winner of which will be decided in 2025 (Skydio won the first stage in 2021).
Moreover, Adam Bry emphasizes that their product development often relies on the experience of Ukrainian users, even if these insights do not align with the needs identified by the American government. "Where there’s discrepancy, we’re prioritizing what we’re seeing in Ukraine," he says.
According to Bry, the American short-range reconnaissance program almost ignores the critical need for UAVs to operate under heavy electronic warfare conditions.
He agrees that relying on the Ukrainian experience is risky but believes the risk is worth taking, considering that Ukraine is essentially a "proving ground" for many of the latest weapons and military equipment.
Regarding the X10D drone, Skydio describes it as a "smart" UAV with "the best sensors" possible for a small drone, piloted with the help of artificial intelligence systems.
The X10D features a multi-band radio module that allows the operator to select frequencies. Thanks to this and the automatic Dynamic Channel Switching (commonly known as frequency hopping) provided by Skydio Connect, the drone can avoid interference, the manufacturer notes.
"Skydio X10 boasts high-resolution visual and radiometric cameras in modular sensor packages," Skydio notes, listing the VT300-3 and VT-300-L thermal imaging cameras on their website, integrated into the FLIR Boson+ radiometric thermal module.
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