Ukraine Drone Repair WEB
Metadata
- Ukraine Drone Repair WEB
- August 23, 2022
- Content Type Package
- Language English
- Transcript/Script English USAGM SHARE ((TITLE: TV Ukraine Drone Repair – Markova HEAD: Ukrainian Company Repairs Broken Drones to Help Military TEASER: The firm's engineer is also designing unmanned aerial vehicles that are harder to track and shoot down DATE: 08/23/2022 AT 9:15am PUBLISHED AT: BYLINE: Kateryna Markova CONTRIBUTOR: DATELINE: Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine VIDEOGRAPHER: Viktor Petrovych VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA PRODUCER: SCRIPT EDITORS: KEnochs; Reifenrath PLATFORMS: TV only TRT: 2:40 VID APPROVED BY: KE TYPE: TVPKG UPDATE: )) ((INTRO)) [[Unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, are playing a huge part in the war in Ukraine. But keeping them in the air can be challenging. One Ukrainian company is doing just that and more. Kateryna Markova has the story.]] ((NARRATION)) For over a decade, engineer Anton — he didn’t give his last name — has been making drones for farmers. Before the war, his company also produced special drones designed to fly in indoor spaces such as warehouses. With the start of the war in Ukraine, however, Anton’s company began repairing damaged drones. He also started designing special military drones for the front lines. ((Anton, Drone Engineer)) ((IN RUSSIAN)) “Some guys came in asking to get their drone repaired. They said they couldn’t do what they needed with a broken drone. And we said we could help.” ((NARRATION)) It costs about $3,500 to make a special military drone, which is harder to track and shoot down than the mass-produced drones that operate on standard frequencies and transmit their flying data. ((Anton, Drone Engineer)) ((IN RUSSIAN)) “All the drones we make can be mass-produced on a small scale, and later, if everything goes well, on a large scale as well. This drone is unique — it is modular and very light. It can transport useful items and carry loads of up to five kilos. It can fly as far as ten kilometers from where it took off. It takes the drone 45 minutes to fly that far with a load on it.” ((NARRATION)) Because he keeps them simple, Anton’s drones are cheaper than average drones. He designs them like aircraft, to allow vertical takeoff. They also work in what Anton calls automatic mode — the operator just needs to enter in a task and the drone goes to work. On top of that, his drones do not require radio communication with the operator, and that makes them much harder to track. ((Anton, Drone Engineer)) ((IN RUSSIAN)) “It can fly far from the operator. // We are constructing one drone now that can fly for as long as 115 minutes at a cruise speed of about 80 kilometers per hour. // It is designed to fly as far as 15 kilometers. If we add a load — like a camera — it will be able to take pictures some 40 kilometers away from where it took off and then come back to the operator on its own without any communication with him or her, or the ground station.” ((NARRATION)) Anton says it is virtually impossible to shoot down such a drone without the help of a guided missile. He says his drones can be upgraded with artificial intelligence capable of analyzing images to find enemy troops. Anton says it’s possible they could also be engineered to carry weapons and be used as attack drones. So far, Anton and his team have provided the Ukrainian Armed Forces with some 20 drones, and more are on the way. ((Kateryna Markova for VOA News, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine))
- Transcript/Script USAGM SHARE ((TITLE: TV Ukraine Drone Repair – Markova HEAD: Ukrainian Company Repairs Broken Drones to Help Military TEASER: The firm's engineer is also designing unmanned aerial vehicles that are harder to track and shoot down DATE: 08/23/2022 AT 9:15am PUBLISHED AT: BYLINE: Kateryna Markova CONTRIBUTOR: DATELINE: Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine VIDEOGRAPHER: Viktor Petrovych VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA PRODUCER: SCRIPT EDITORS: KEnochs; Reifenrath PLATFORMS: TV only TRT: 2:40 VID APPROVED BY: KE TYPE: TVPKG UPDATE: )) ((INTRO)) [[Unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, are playing a huge part in the war in Ukraine. But keeping them in the air can be challenging. One Ukrainian company is doing just that and more. Kateryna Markova has the story.]] ((NARRATION)) For over a decade, engineer Anton — he didn’t give his last name — has been making drones for farmers. Before the war, his company also produced special drones designed to fly in indoor spaces such as warehouses. With the start of the war in Ukraine, however, Anton’s company began repairing damaged drones. He also started designing special military drones for the front lines. ((Anton, Drone Engineer)) ((IN RUSSIAN)) “Some guys came in asking to get their drone repaired. They said they couldn’t do what they needed with a broken drone. And we said we could help.” ((NARRATION)) It costs about $3,500 to make a special military drone, which is harder to track and shoot down than the mass-produced drones that operate on standard frequencies and transmit their flying data. ((Anton, Drone Engineer)) ((IN RUSSIAN)) “All the drones we make can be mass-produced on a small scale, and later, if everything goes well, on a large scale as well. This drone is unique — it is modular and very light. It can transport useful items and carry loads of up to five kilos. It can fly as far as ten kilometers from where it took off. It takes the drone 45 minutes to fly that far with a load on it.” ((NARRATION)) Because he keeps them simple, Anton’s drones are cheaper than average drones. He designs them like aircraft, to allow vertical takeoff. They also work in what Anton calls automatic mode — the operator just needs to enter in a task and the drone goes to work. On top of that, his drones do not require radio communication with the operator, and that makes them much harder to track. ((Anton, Drone Engineer)) ((IN RUSSIAN)) “It can fly far from the operator. // We are constructing one drone now that can fly for as long as 115 minutes at a cruise speed of about 80 kilometers per hour. // It is designed to fly as far as 15 kilometers. If we add a load — like a camera — it will be able to take pictures some 40 kilometers away from where it took off and then come back to the operator on its own without any communication with him or her, or the ground station.” ((NARRATION)) Anton says it is virtually impossible to shoot down such a drone without the help of a guided missile. He says his drones can be upgraded with artificial intelligence capable of analyzing images to find enemy troops. Anton says it’s possible they could also be engineered to carry weapons and be used as attack drones. So far, Anton and his team have provided the Ukrainian Armed Forces with some 20 drones, and more are on the way. ((Kateryna Markova for VOA News, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine))
- NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
- Network VOA
- Embargo Date August 23, 2022 09:46 EDT
- Byline Kateryna Markova
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America