"Stop amateur". How Ukraine needs to change the army to win - Sergei Flash
Over the past half of a year, Ukraine has lagged far behind Russia in the development of drones and electronic warfare, which gives great advantages in the battlefield.
In the second part of the focus interview, Sergei Bez -Kindnov with the pseudonym "Flash" - a Ukrainian serviceman, communication specialist, radio electronic struggle and intelligence - shared why all units needed "trenches" of the complexes of RBs, but they produce only private enterprises, and which are produced Even technologies are now mastered by Ukraine, seeking to win the war.
Why are the IEC in Ukraine produced only by private enterprises? - All the means of the trenches now make small and medium -sized businesses, even the most likely small - small teams of like -minded people. Why don't big businesses want to do it? I can assume that it is not very profitable because of a small margin.
It may be more interesting for large enterprises to create complexes for half a million dollars, sell the state with a large margin and make a lot of profit that will be directed for new developments. Making thousands of devices from which they will receive a minimal margin is probably not interesting. There is a second factor: maybe large enterprises do not want to contact the state.
After all, you do important things for the country first, and then you will be engaged in law enforcement agencies, which will seem that the purchase price is wrong, and you will spend all the potential profit on lawyers. Many businesses do not want to play with the state in such games, but prefer to simply execute private orders while working with volunteer funds.
Third point: To make quality trenches of the Okop RB, you need to invest in their development, the so -called R&D (research and development of innovations - ed. ). Now all our teams that make the IEC take ready -made Chinese modules and add antennas to them. But to make the device properly and not depend on China, you need to carry out your own development, invent your design, scheme, make boards and bring in components to the country, make housings, that is, invest some funds.
It is like "frozen" money, and few want to do so. Moreover, tomorrow the complex can become irrelevant, and you need to do a new one. No country in the world has been ready for the fact that the war would be tied around drones, and the means of Reb for UAVs would be needed in such a large number and scale. Now the Armed Forces are equipped with "large" RBs 30% of the need, and small "trenches", by my personal score, by 2-3%. It is also possible that we simply do not have production in the country.
Ukraine is an agricultural country, it is no secret to anyone, unlike in Russia, in which dozens of businesses work in Moscow and St. Petersburg, they were engaged in the development of HPs before the war. They invented and sold systems for export, sold them to commercial structures around the world, and now simply rebuilt their work in a military order.
Throughout the world, the concept of drones has long existed, and there is no longer from attacks, but from industrial espionage, that competitors do not follow the factories and not learn secret technologies.
Why do foreign partners not supply Ukraine's remedies in the same way as air defense systems and other weapons required for effective defense? - Here the answer is simple: no country of the world was ready for the fact that the war would be tied around drones and that the means of Reb for UAV will be needed in such quantity and scale. Now the Armed Forces are staffed with a "large" EW 30% of the need, it is not a secret, but by small "trenches", according to my personal assessment, by 2-3%.
Why so few? Because there is no unit on the front that would not like a treatment. Ask any platoon, any company, any soldier-everyone wants at least an antitrone gun, everyone wants FPV protection. Imagine how many units we have, how many hundreds of thousands of people are fighting and how many QUE complexes we need. Now we are staffed by literally units of percent and the private ones who make the trenches, I write to me: they have an order for a year ahead. Imagine a queue.
Since production is tied to Chinese modules, it can end at any moment, as well as supplying components for FPV drones. While they go through our neighboring countries, but what if this channel closes? We all see what happens to Poland when half of the staffing details are stuck on the Ukrainian-Polish border.
It is impossible to depend on China and logistics, you need to start doing basic things with us, buying commercial details that are not under sanctions, in any countries of the world, bring to Ukraine, here to solder and to collect everything. This is the only correct path. A year has passed, we still do nothing in this direction. No one, no enterprise, no production. We are currently seeing a new trend in military publications: FPV-aid video interceptions.
How do scanners work and will they be able to change the situation at the front? -Any FPV-Dron has two radio channels. One channel is managed and receives the commands where to go - it is the domes of the EBO so that the operator can not control the drone. The second channel is a video channel responsible for the picture that it "sees" and transmits the drone, without it it is impossible to control the device.
Data from the video channel are transmitted to the operator, who sits 5-7 kilometers and directs the drone. If we eliminate on the fronts 2-3 Russian crews that attack FPV-thedies on us, then immediately in this direction will be temporarily quiet. It's already tested. We can intercept this channel because it is open. It is open because both Ukrainians and Russians use the cheapest FPV modules, seeking to minimize the cost of disposable drones-Kamikadze.
The second reason is that FPV is important "speed" of image, and in analog format it is the fastest - there are no delays during processing, as in the case of digital signals. The third reason is that when the digital signal disappears due to poor communication or EW, the operator sees the blue screen, and when analog, then through obstacles something to see and hit the target. This is probably the most critical factor, which uses analog modules.
By intercepting the "picture", we can see where the drone came from. We have two opportunities: we can blind the operator's remote, send the pilot obstacle to prevent the image. Or we can record a "picture", show guys from air intelligence, air intelligence officers are able to navigate on the spot and immediately say where the drone came from. We will send artillery to the launch place or send our shock drones in response.
Why is it critical: to produce tens, hundreds of drones is not a problem, but the problem is to prepare the crew. If we eliminate on the fronts 2-3 Russian crews that attack FPV-thedies on us, then immediately in this direction will be temporarily quiet. It's already tested. That is, we not eliminate the consequences, but the root cause. The danger is that it is mirror - the Russians also understand everything and do the same.
When a tactic or strategy opens, the one who starts to implement it faster wins. When we understand what can be done, we need to instantly fill our fronts with signal interceptors so that we have an advantage. Is the scanners-interceptors a ready-made commercial solution or do Ukrainian engineers make themselves? - We do them by hand, and in fact there is nothing difficult here.
We take an ordinary video receiver and add to it a fee, which switches in turn all the channels and stops if it sees a picture. This is all realized by ready methods, the main thing is to collect everything in one body, put the battery, remove connectors, protect it, make the device convenient for operation to the military.
This is a problem with this, because in the last month I met with a dozen teams that made such scanners, and they showed them in the form of a mounting board collected on the knee. Two fees, some wires, connectors, say: works. I ask them: wonderful, bring to a state so that you can give the military, put in the body, pick up charging, anti -vandal cords, a set of cables, so that the fighters can take out of the trench or lift on the mast.
Do you imagine what the fronts are going on, what are the conditions there? Frost, dirt and more. From the first day of the war, I strongly against free developments. I have not seen any successful example when people try to do something "in zero" or "minus", never it ends with anything good, all such projects are doomed. After that, all the developers disappeared. We have a lot of minds to be ready, but we rest on a dead end when it comes to production.
Only one team showed me a ready, assembled complex, which I now passed to the front for testing. If he is tested, then the creators are ready to do it further. Interestingly, the Ukrainians who live in Poland did it. And here unexpectedly the problem arose at the border, I lost two weeks because I could not bring complexes from Poland to testing, Ukrainian customs wanted to clear the cargo. The sender did not want to be carried by an individual.
How much is such a system to intercepts video signal? -I think that by the set of details for staffing, such a system should cost up to $ 400-500. To include receivers of different ranges, antenna, batteries, monitors and more. This is quite easy to count, because all the details for staffing have an open price on the Internet. Plus, the cost of the assembly is added here, and we will understand how adequate the price is and corresponds to reality.
From the first day of the war, I strongly against free developments. I have not seen any successful example when people try to do something "in zero" or "minus", never it ends with anything good, all such projects are doomed. The "garage" MIC is the same MIC, only garage.
People should be profitable for the purchase of details for staffing, for some outsourcing developments, consultations, buying equipment, for further modifications of products, so profit in all devices should be laid, and this is normal. It just has to match the market situation and common sense. You regularly recommend the military detectors of the UAV "Cubs". Do they really protect Ukrainian fighters from the drones of the Russian Federation? - So.
We got acquainted with the developer of "Sugar" in the first month of war. He immediately began to think about the development of such a device, knowing that there were UAV "Orlan" and at what frequencies they fly. Not one, probably, a dozen teams thought, made prototypes, but only one person brought the product to the way. 128 Brigade, everyone knows this story when many guys were killed 30 kilometers from the front line.
If they had such a device, then it would show that the reconnaissance drone is spinning over them, then something is being prepared. After that, he began to improve the device, my mission here was to test it on the fronts and to tell at what points it helps and what to change to work optimally.
Now the appliance continues to modify, earlier it worked only with Russian reconnaissance UAVs, then there were added frequencies of "Lancets", "Maviikiv", now, God, it is possible to add FPV-ducts in video. How this device is different from other analogues: it does not squeal on everything that is simply on the air, but looks that the signal is responsible for the characteristics of the drone signal.
It does not work false, it is very important, because many manufacturers make drones that squeak on anything, for example, if they turn on Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Here is a smarter system minimized erroneous operation. The most important thing is to use the device properly. I tell the guys, and the author writes instructions for use, because different categories of the military need different functionality.
If you turn it on the forefront, to show "eagles", it will squeak out of end, because such UAVs are constantly rotating over all fronts, 24 by 7. "Candy" comes to the military and they turn it off and say, "and say," and they say, " We do not understand, it is some kind of bullshit, he constantly squeaks, he is not. " In fact, he is guilty because the "eagles" fly all the time, and the fighters put maximum sensitivity. I tell you how to use it properly.
Someone needs to know when Orlan will fly to the rear. The most striking example is the 128 brigade, everyone knows this story when many boys were killed 30 kilometers from the front line. If they had such a device, then it would show that the reconnaissance drone is spinning over them, then something is being prepared. It does not simply spin, the Russians do not fly deep into the rear - it is a relative rarity. You have seen you also collect the "Remote Monitoring Item" for the front.
What is it and how will the military on the front line help? - The military has systems, something imported, something Ukrainian, which they use for radio monitoring. This system is designed to study Russian drones and other signals on the fronts, and then analyze what flies, how, in which directions, to shoot spectrograms, and then to teach our boys. Why is it important.
Previously, it was thought that only profile organizations (SBU, GUR) are engaged in radio intelligence, now we have come to the fact that the basic things with radio intelligence should be done and others. For example, I was approached by the command of the Land Forces, they even want to teach the basics of radio intelligence.
I traveled many fronts, according to the results of measurements, I wrote a special instruction for the Armed Forces with samples of signals for use by our infantrymen of simple spectrum analyzers. I now ask that this direction is officially introduced in the troops, because they are already engaged in it, but informally. Radio intelligence is now a very broad concept.
For example, now our boys are flying on FPV, seemingly attitude to the radio, but now the ether is so saturated with obstacles that it is advisable to turn on the appliance and evaluate the situation before departing the drone of the pilot. Most often, the Russian IEP works, and even more often our EW is. The guys do not know that our HIT systems work and can lose drones, both FPV and large devices. So now any competent crew turns on the device and looks what is happening.
To do this, you already need to understand the basics of radio. The second part of the problem - video channels operate at standard frequencies, so now the pilots turn on the device to see what is the workload of the air at the point of flight, and choose "clean" optimal frequencies. You know, the pilots were told recently, which reaches the absurd.
Since the set of channels is standard and a lot of crews fly on the fronts, often our operators cannot find a free channel for flight, so the units take a queue in the morning. The guys say, "We turn the channel on the gear and just hold it just so that they can fly out in half an hour. " It comes to such. Here's a simple example when a simple FPV pilot begins to be a radio expert.
Our infantrymen are engaged in intercepting Russians' negotiations, not all of them have to do it, but an important and needed initiative. Yes, not super level, yes, some basics. Many guys work with Tiny SA Ultra spectrum analyzers, that is, they also engage in the basics of radio intelligence, can banally determine where the IEP works and even to be burned, they can be a lot. I often write what our boys have opportunities, they are a device for $ 150.
For example, they can determine the approach of a "lancet" from which direction it flies, whether there are "eagles" in the sky. We have a lot of competent, smart guys in the war, they want to develop and do radio intelligence, they only need to be taught, given the opportunity, it will all benefit.
Any battalion level commander and above, if he is not a fool, understands that in his unit you need to do the following things: to create shock groups FPV, to create groups of air intelligence that can fly on "Mavica", to create groups of EW and Rer. These are modern technologies without which war is impossible. Any competent commander of a battalion, regiment or brigade, if he is young, understands, hears that he says Zaluzhny to the whole country: "time and technology.