Developing Drones in Ukraine by Quantum Systems - Part 2 I DefenseTech Hive at Project A Knowledge Conference 2024

AuthorAuthor

Matthias Lehna & Justin Wismer
September 11, 2024

Welcome 🇪🇺

We are happy to welcome our guest authors Matthias Lehna and Justin Wismer from Quantum Systems for a 2-part edition. In this second part, the authors are focusing on the necessity of scalable production and draw conclusions what can and should be learned from Quantum Systems’ operations in Ukraine.

About the authors:
Matthias is a Business Developer at Munich-based drone manufacturer Quantum Systems. He boasts a diverse background including fourteen years in the German armed forces and roles in NATO operations, UN peacekeeping, and military innovation at the Cyber Innovation Hub der Bundeswehr. His extensive experience in defense and security, including serving the chairwoman of the defence committee at the Bundestag, enriches his current position, where he closely follows developments in drone warfare.

Justin works in political communications for Quantum Systems. Before joining the Berlin Team of Quantum Systems in April he graduated from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid in March with a masters in Geopolitics and Strategic Studies. He specialises in European security and defense and has previously worked at the Spanish Embassy in Washington D.C. writing reports on transatlantic relations, NATO, European defense, and the war in Ukraine.

Yours,
Uwe, Jack and Jannic

Defense Hive at Project A’s Knowledge Conference 2024 in Berlin

We are excited to be hosting a dedicated Defense Hive at this year’s Project A Knowledge Conference. We will bring together industry leaders, military stakeholders, VCs and startups to discuss what solutions we can find to increase European resilience.

In collaboration with law firm YPOG, The PAKCon24 Defense Hive will feature insightful discussions on securing funding and hearing first hand from military leaders. We will deep dive into finding ways to navigate regulatory hurdles and foster collaboration between traditional defense companies and innovative start-ups.

Take a look at the agenda and sign up here.

The Resilience Conference 🇪🇺🇬🇧

We are excited to be supporting the Resilience Conference in London in 26 - 27th of September. You can find a full list of amazing speakers here, including Mike Butcher from TechCrunch, Blythe Crawford from Air and Space Warfare Center, UK Royal Airforce, and GPs from funds like General Catalyst & DCVC. Our own Jack Wang will be part of the “Startups, Security & Defence” panel, with more topics such as “Reinventing Procurement for Startups and Innovation” .

Ensure you get a 20% discount on your ticket by accessing this link.

Developing Drones in Ukraine

Why application and development are two sides of the same coin (Part 2)

Scalability and mass are key

The UAF recently announced a staggering 3 million drones as a requirement for 2024, most of them used as kamikaze drones. Producing and supplying them as close as possible to the front lines is essential.

Yet these little quad copters by themselves are of little use if there is no precise and continuous reconnaissance of the battlefield to identify targets. Artillery shells, especially when only available in low numbers, need to be used efficiently, through a permanent “Eye in the Sky” helping it adjust fire. And long-range missiles need coordinates, which only drones that can penetrate GNSS-denied and jammed territory, are able deliver.

“Quantity still is a quality on its own”

Oleksandr Berezhny, Quantum Systems Ukraine

Drone based reconnaissance has therefore become THE critical enabler for Ukrainian operations. Achieving this transparent battlefield, on a frontline of over 1000km, is no easy task though. Managing Director of Quantum Systems Ukraine, Oleksandr Berezhny emphasises that having systems in mass and a production that is rapidly scalable is crucial. And this is where Quantum Systems production facility in Ukraine comes into place.

Quickly providing spare parts and repair to the drone operators on the front line and giving the UAF a steady supply of systems is capability forgotten in the Western defence industrial complex. The balance between perfectionism and practicability, just as quality and quantity need to be adjusted as time and mass have become war deciding factors. “Quantity still is a quality on its own” says Berezhny.

Application and development are two side of the same coin

Quantum Systems commitment in Ukraine shows that the Western defence industry must take actual application into account to a far larger degree than before. Development of technology in the vacuum of industry labs means nothing if they don’t stand the test of the battlefield.

Additionally, systems need to be able to accommodate hardware-and software updates on the fly. Just imagine pulling back thousands of the drones from the frontline just to add a counter-jamming module or to run a software patch. Simple solutions that can be applied right at the frontline is what keeps the perpetual innovation cycle going.

Ukrainian Ingenuity on Display

Systems that don’t take these lessons into account will inevitably fail and will not play a role in future conflicts. Even legacy systems such as the Leopard 2 cannot be missing from the battlefield for weeks to accommodate a small hardware change.  To find out about their armed force’s needs, to develop a solution and apply it, industry needs to be in lock step with the armed forces they are serving.

This will be the way forward. Being certified by the UAF, an accomplishment achieved only by few Western drone producers, has shown that the way of Quantum Systems in Ukraine is the right one.

What does that mean for the future?  Without an active role in Ukraine, Western defence industry will lose the technological race against its competitors and against those countries they wish to deter.

Lessons Learned Ukraine

The lessons Quantum Systems has learned in Ukraine are continuously driving its product development. In addition to the Vector for medium ranges, Quantum Systems offers the Reliant for long-range-reconnaissance and the Twister for short-range-reconnaissance missions. All are VTOL capable, backpack portable and secured against EW measures and can fly in GNSS denied environments.

The Vector in use with the Ukrainian Armed Forces: An X Thread

Yet bigger or smaller hardware is by far not the only accomplishment. It is the software that is the true force multiplier. Thus, Quantum Systems “Receptor” Artificial Intelligence (AI) will work onboard all their systems to enable automatic target detection and identification just as optical navigation. This will give customers an AI pilot on board that can securely and independently fly and conduct their mission at night and in bad weather conditions even when GPS and radio signal is lost.

This development is the result of years of experience in Ukraine and applying the lessons learned faithfully. These capabilities are essential to further automate and decentralize drone-based reconnaissance so that every soldier can operate drones.

Real-time aerial reconnaissance at all levels of command has lifted the fog of war and has become a requisite for any successful operation on the modern battlefield. Systems such as the Vector as an "eye in the sky", in combination with small kamikaze drones, artillery and long-range strike missiles have allowed Ukraine to halt the advance of the Russian army. This critical enabler shows that even with all the might of the world, it is knowledge, real-time aerial intelligence, that holds the true power to shift the tide on the battlefield.

Quantum Systems will continue to support Ukraine in its fight for survival against the Russian aggressor with its important Vector reconnaissance drones. Other European countries such as Romania and the Netherlands now also rely on the backpack-portable and VTOL-capable Vector. The German Armed Forces as well will a benefit from the lessons learned by Quantum Systems in Ukraine. From 2025, the first Vector drones, called FALKE, will fly for the Bundeswehr and make it fit for the unmanned age.

 

News That Caught Our Attention 👀

  • Switzerland considering revision of neutrality stance (in German) - Swiss Government

  • China’s answer to US “Hellscape” Taiwan Strategy - Interesting Engineering

  • Raytheon is now run under the portfolio theory of the firm - Bismarck Brief

  • China’s fleet of radar planes and their strategy - TWZ

  • BAE Systems acquires Kirintec to enhance EW capabilities - ESD

Every week we feature a list of interesting roles in European DefenceTech start-ups and scale-ups for readers seeking their next challenge in their careers.

If you are a founder and would like to promote your open roles, please get in touch with us!

Passionate and want to contribute? 👩🏻‍💻

The European Resilience Tech Newsletter is always looking for regular and guest authors, writers, reporters, content creators etc. If you like what you read, you are passionate about improving European resilience regardless of your background and want to contribute, just reach out to us!

European Resilience Tech Newsletter Team

Uwe Horstmann co-founded Project A Ventures in 2012 as General Partner and has built Project A to be a leading European early stage investor with over $1bn USD under management and having backed 100+ founders. In addition to Project A, Uwe serves as Reserve Officer in the German armed forces and advises the German Ministry of Defence in digital transformation issues.

Jack Wang is a software engineer turned product driven tech investor and joined Project A in 2021 to lead the firm’s deep tech investing, which have grown to include DefenceTech. Prior to joining Project A, Jack worked in a variety of organisations such as Amazon and Macquarie Group across Australia, US and UK / Europe. Jack holds a MBA from London Business School and Bachelors of Engineering (Bioinformatics, 1st) from UNSW, Australia.

Jannic Meyer joined Project A initially contributing to what is now known as the Project A Studio, partnering with founders at the pre-idea stage, where he covered a variety of topics ranging from energy infrastructure to dual-use robotics and led our investment in ARX Robotics. He is now part of the investment team at Project A covering all things resilience.

Project A Ventures is one of the leading early-stage tech investors in Europe with offices in Berlin and London. In addition to 1 billion USD assets under management, Project A supports its 100+ portfolio companies with a platform team over 140 functional experts in key areas such as software and product development, business intelligence, brand, design, marketing, sales and recruiting. Project A have backed founders of Trade Republic, WorldRemit, Sennder, KRY, Spryker, Catawiki, Unmind and Voi as well as founders building in European Resilience: