“Only big business can win the arms race with Russia” – Ihor Lutsenko
26 May 13:35
OPINION
Military man and former MP Ihor Lutsenko has stated the critical need for large Ukrainian businesses to be involved in the development of drone technology to counter Russian aggression. In his Facebook post, he called on domestic business giants to actively engage in an arms race with Russia.
Everything is bad, and it can be even worse
According to a military man who works with drones at the front, Ukraine is now inferior to Russia in this area. But it could be even worse.
“At the same time, several public servants who work in the field of unmanned systems have stated that Ukraine is lagging behind Russia in the drone war. They say that Moscow’s capabilities in various segments of the UAV industry are growing very rapidly, while we have no such growth,”
– Lutsenko noted.
The former MP emphasized that the situation could deteriorate significantly in the future, as the Russians are planning a long-term military campaign against Ukraine. Lutsenko drew attention to Russia’s strategy of destroying Ukraine’s infrastructure and economy.
“It is the decision to destroy the energy and transportation infrastructures, large and even medium-sized enterprises that Russia is now deploying against us. A thousand “shaheds” per day, which the Economist magazine predicts, is not only about the front, but rather about the rear. The economy in the rear is increasingly under attack, and it will be harder and harder to hold the front,”
– the soldier stated.
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No victory without big business
According to Lutsenko, the solution to the problem lies in attracting big business to defense technologies.
“The answer is very simple and obvious. Technological warfare is won by large production facilities and large development teams. And big production and big development are the competence of big business,”
– he said.
The former MP drew a comparison with the Russian approach to organizing drone production.
“In the Russian Federation, the state and big business close to the government have united and created large-scale production facilities and numerous teams of engineers. Huge production facilities have been created, with a scale unprecedented for Ukraine – for example, today it is hundreds of “Shaheds” per day, or thousands of fiber-optic drones,”
– he explained.
And the current state of Ukrainian drone production is much worse compared to Russia, the former MP said.
“Everything is different in Ukraine. In fact, small private companies and the army itself are engaged in the production of drone products. In any case, this is often the level of garage production,”
– said the serviceman.
He emphasized that this approach does not allow for technological breakthroughs.
“It’s hard to dream of any technological breakthroughs (for example, more functional fiber optics or laser guidance systems, or products of the Mavic 3 level) in such conditions,”
– Lutsenko stated.
The former MP emphasized the unique capabilities of big business in solving defense problems.
“Big business is the only one that can cope with the task of winning the arms race. Who else but big business has the competence to push the state where it needs to go?”
– he said.
Lutsenko cited specific arguments for the interest of business in participating in the drone war.
“First, it is the business that suffers and will suffer more and more from Russian drone attacks. For example, the owners of port infrastructure, oil depots or grain storage facilities should have gotten together 2 years ago and organized/financed the work on creating a Shahed interceptor. It would have saved them and us hundreds of millions of dollars,”
– he explained.
The serviceman also noted the management competencies of big business. After all, it is there that the country’s best managers are concentrated, with experience in deploying large-scale production and implementing breakthrough solutions.
How to connect big business to victory
Ihor Lutsenko even proposed a specific mechanism for organizing cooperation between big business and the frontline and the Armed Forces.
“Big business should unite and organize a military-technological headquarters. Involve the largest volunteer foundations, state institutions and representatives of the military,”
– he said.
According to the military, this structure should be among those who will develop a program for the development of the drone industry, which will be crucial for dominance in the air and, accordingly, victory in the war.
He emphasized that the role of business should be primarily in organizing processes, not just in financing. According to the former MP, the relevant developments do not require excessive financial investments on the scale of large business.
“Businesses should form a technological rate and not so much close the problem with their money as properly organize the process… In principle, development does not necessarily require exorbitant funds – rather, it is important to work systematically with priorities and the distribution of roles. As for production, significant resources are already allocated by the state and partners – it is important that they are spent efficiently,”
– Lutsenko said.
Concluding his statement, the former MP directly addressed big business and called on the owners of the largest Ukrainian companies to take active action.
“So, the owners of the largest assets of our country should not give up and actively participate in their rescue, because it is the competencies of big business that are now most in demand in this war of technology. Consider this my petition to Ukrainian top corporations,”
– Ihor Lutsenko emphasized.
The military’s statement comes amid the growing intensity of Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian territory and a series of publications in Western media about the critical scale of Russia’s drone program.
The Financial Times, citing unnamed Ukrainian officials, wrote that Russia is now producing more drones than it is using.
The Economist, in turn, reported that Russia has set its sights on producing 500 drones a day, and in the near future plans to use up to a thousand drones in a single attack.
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