Ukraine can now mass-produce a motor that makes interceptor drones go 400 kilometers per hour, the Brave1 Defense Cluster announced on 16 December.
The manufacturer, Motor G, makes more than 100,000 motors per month, according to the announcement, which called it one of the largest producers of motors outside China.
This isn’t the first time a Ukrainian manufacturer claimed such speeds. A company called Bullet purports to make interceptors that can go 450 km/h. An American company has signed a letter of intent to help manufacture and sell these drones in the US
However, Brave1, which sponsors Ukrainian defense contractors, billed this as the latest sign that Ukraine is becoming less reliant on foreign parts. Many of these parts come from China.
“Today, more and more drones are flying on motors made in Ukraine,” First Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov tweeted. “We are building the components market and strengthening Ukraine’s technological independence.”
Still, Ukraine has a long way to go in being self-sufficient when it comes to drone propulsion. According to the Zmiinyi (Snake) Island Institute, Ukrainian manufacturers produce just 14% of their own electric motors, as of October.
The need for speed
According to Euromaidan Press’s interviews with interceptor drone manufacturers, top speeds typically range from 200 to 350 km/h, depending on the model and what it’s designed to hunt. Many hover just above 300 km/h.
This is borne out by other reporting on the subject. General Cherry recently came out with the Air Pro, which can go 200 km/h.
MaXon Systems’s semi-autonomous interceptor reportedly goes 300 km/h. And the Wild Hornets’ Sting drone was reported to hit speeds of 315 km/h in tests, though its claimed top speed is close to 350 km/h.
The Furia air defense drone hit a top speed of 350 km/h, according to Sergej Sumlenny, founder of the European Resilience Initiative Center.
As such, 400 km/h is nothing to sneeze at in the current ecosystem. Ukraine’s interceptors will need all the speed and maneuverability they can get as Russia upgrades its Shahed attack drones to be faster, more destructive and evasive.
Jet-powered versions of the Shahed already have a reported cruising speed of 300-350 kilometers per hour.
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Weaning Ukraine off Chinese parts
Ukraine's government has a stated goal to reduce its dependence on Chinese parts, which, while cheaper, also pose a security risk. If China stops the flow of parts for whatever reason, Ukraine's entire weapons industry can be in trouble.
Chinese firms also supply a huge volume of parts to Russia, to be used in the same weapons being used to attack Ukraine. Chinese parts reportedly account for over 60% of components used in Shahed attack drones.
Fedorov and Brave1 recently announced a grant program, offering weapon component makers up to 8 million hryvnias to accelerate R&D and improve their readiness (about $188,000.)
Brave1 also announced its initiative to allow the military to buy parts for electronic points, something that the defense cluster already does with drones.
