In just over a year of war, they have helped destroy more than a billion euros worth of Russian military equipment
While hundreds of thousands of soldiers fight on land, an authentic revolution is taking place in the skies of , which have become an authentic laboratory for the development of drone technology. At the center of this revolution are drones from the Portuguese company Tekever, which have been operating since the first year of the war and which have become “the eyes” of many Ukrainian units on the battlefield, being responsible for the destruction of millions in Russian equipment on the line. from the front.
Proof of this are the Ukrainian military from the 15th Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade, also known as “Black Forest”, for whom Tekever’s AR3 drone has become a crucial instrument in stopping Russian advances. This drone, which is launched by the unit’s soldiers through a catapult system and is capable of flying for 16 hours straight, is used to detect and identify high-value Russian military targets, such as command centers, anti-aircraft defense systems or radars.
As soon as the men operating the AR3 detect a Russian target, they contact artillery unit command and transmit the targets’ coordinates. Then, artillery units choose the type of weapon to be used, depending on the distance and importance of the target. Closer targets, such as armored vehicles or infantry, are attacked with artillery. But the most valuable targets, such as command centers or radars, are attacked with the “heavyweights” of Western engineering: HIMARS and Storm Shadow missiles.
“There was a big boom and a big hole in the ground. There was no one left to move”, says Lieutenant Kostyantin, commander of a platoon from the 15th Brigade, when recalling the attack on a command center with British Storm Shadow missiles, in a statement to the Times.
It was the result of days of close pursuit and surveillance with these Portuguese drones, supplied by the United Kingdom to Ukraine. Since 2023, Portuguese aircraft have operated successfully in the skies of Ukraine, becoming an essential part of Ukrainian operations. Just over a year after arriving in theater of operations, there is already more than a billion euros worth of Russian military equipment.
This is only possible due to the Portuguese company’s advanced software, which is supported by Artificial Intelligence, allowing the AR3 to operate in very hostile environments. On the battlefront in Ukraine, where an increasing number of unmanned aircraft operate, thousands of electronic warfare systems are employed with the aim of cutting the signal between the drone and the operator. Except that Tekever’s drones are able to operate without needing a GPS signal or communications, allowing them to avoid some of the Russian countermeasures.
Recently, Lieutenant Kostyantin’s military unit used an AR3 to identify a Nebo-M radar, a system considered very powerful and rare, capable of identifying targets within a radius of 3,800 kilometers. It is estimated that Russia has only ten units of these systems, which have an estimated cost of 100 million euros. In less than an hour, the Portuguese drone that became “the eyes” of the Ukrainian army found and identified the Nebo-M from a distance and the team immediately requested authorization for an attack with ATACMS missiles, which completely devastated the radar.
In October, his platoon located a powerful Nebo-M radar station in Russian-held eastern Ukraine, capable of scanning the skies hundreds of miles west in Ukrainian-held territory. Russia is only believed to have ten of the systems, each of which costs an estimated $100 million. 5/
— Maxim Tucker (@MaxRTucker)
It’s not just the characteristics of Tekever’s drones that make them useful for Ukraine, the company’s mindset is also perfectly fitting Ukrainian needs. Despite the Portuguese company’s CEO, Ricardo Mendes, saying the company does not want to develop weapons, the focus on creating software makes it particularly useful in a war scenario like Ukraine. This is because the Portuguese startup is capable of creating solutions at a very fast speed to respond to concrete problems that appear on the battlefield. It is possible to apply changes to the software in days or even hours, depending on your needs, which are constantly changing.
“If you have an environment that is constantly changing, you need a product that adapts very quickly. Typically, military products evolve relatively slowly. Change usually happens over years. We in the civilian and software world think of change in terms of weeks. Basically, we brought this level of agility to this scenario”, Ricardo Mendes in a podcast.
To achieve this agility, the company founded by three former students from Instituto Superior Técnico applies a “vertical development” model. This means you are responsible for almost every element of your products. From the software, to the sensor chips, as well as the design and fuselage of the aircraft itself. All of this is developed by the company with the aim of being “the most agile on the market”, according to its director. This allows Tekever to quickly implement its developments without depending on suppliers.
Recently, the company received a capital injection of 74 million from a group of investors that includes the NATO Innovation Fund. In addition to the AR3, which is considered a small drone, Tekever also operates the AR5, an aircraft with greater capacity. This year, the company unveiled a new product, ARX, a system capable of highlighting and coordinating swarms of drones. This vehicle will only be available in 2025 – it promises to “significantly reinforce surveillance and life-saving capabilities, both in civil and military organizations”, with more autonomy, greater speed, ability to carry more technology and “capture more information ”.
CNN Portugal contacted Tekever, but at the time of publishing this article had not received a response.
The objective of this new aircraft – which will be the largest in the company’s catalog – is to be able to transport and operate a “swarm” of smaller drones, in order to extend their operational capabilities. The company classifies this new product as “the Holy Grail of surveillance”, capable of combining speed, the capacity to transport a large number of sensors of all types and great adaptability.
Although Portuguese drones have helped Ukraine gain a critical advantage in recognizing strategic targets and helping to coordinate precise strikes against Russian forces, resulting in heavy and irreparable losses for Moscow, the situation on the ground is increasingly difficult for Ukraine. Ukraine. In the Donetsk region, one of Vladimir Putin’s main war targets, Russia has made considerable advances at a speed that is impressing analysts.
The situation is most serious on the outskirts of the city of Pokrosvk, Kurakhove and Velyka Novosilka. All of them are fundamental for the defense of the Ukrainian region. If it conquers those three cities, Russia will control three major highways that will lead directly to the city of Dnipro, capital of the region where Russian forces have never been (Dnipropetrovsk), and which is crucial to maintaining operations on a front line of almost a thousand kilometers .
