Ukraine’s experience in using unmanned aerial vehicles against Russian occupiers has saved the US military from making strategic mistakes when creating its own drone systems, the outlet has reported. .
In September 2023, the Pentagon launched the Replicator program, within the framework of which it is planned to supply US troops with unmanned aerial vehicles and systems to counter enemy drones.
The deputy director of the Pentagon’s Defense innovation division, Aditi Kumar, noted that the first phase of this project (the delivery of thousands of “low-cost autonomous platforms” to troops) should be completed in July 2025. Then the second stage: the delivery of anti-drone systems.
Discussing the challenges of implementing the Replicator program, Kumar acknowledged that the Ukraine experience has been very useful to the Pentagon. In particular, the Ukrainians update their drone software extremely quickly to maintain their effectiveness in the conditions of a dynamic battlefield.
“The Ukrainian experience was very useful to us, as it showed that the software update should be done in three to four weeks, which is extremely fast and expensive,” the Pentagon spokeswoman said.
According to her, the Pentagon has historically provided insufficient funds to update US weapons software, resulting in slow updates. Kumar emphasized that this practice must change.
