The Vector drone manufacturing plant has launched operations in Ukraine with the German drone producer Quantum-Systems.
According to Militarnyi, the plant began operations in the spring of this year and is already producing reconnaissance drones for the Defense Forces. Currently, the company assembles drones from ready-made kits arriving from Germany, but it is gradually localizing components of the design.
Specifically, the manufactured drones are equipped with wings and Ukrainian-made CRPA antennas for satellite signal reception. Future plans include establishing production for fuselages and other structural elements.
Quantum-Systems representatives noted that the experience of the Russian-Ukrainian war has highlighted the vulnerability of reconnaissance drones that rely on satellite networks for navigation.
As an alternative, the company is working on optical navigation technology based on an updated optical station with integrated AI Receptor software. This new update is based on Nvidia's Jetson Orin chip and several sensors, enabling optical navigation both day and night and in poor visibility conditions, as well as automated object recognition and identification using artificial intelligence.
For sensors, the Ukrainian-manufactured drones use Raptor optical modules with TV and infrared observation channels from the Israeli company NextVision.
The medium-range Vector drones from Quantum-Systems have been in operation in Ukraine since May 2022, supplied to the Ukrainian military with funding from the German government.
Currently, 212 systems have been provided with German government funding. The company has announced that 500 drones are expected to be delivered to Ukraine by the end of the year.
