Last week, Ukraine and the EU announced the launch of BraveTech EU — a joint initiative to scale military innovations across the continent. In an interview with RBC-Ukraine, Vice Prime Minister for Innovation, Education Development, Science and Technology — Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov spoke about the new initiative, the replacement of people by artificial intelligence on the battlefield, and changes in the e-points system.
BraveTech EU
Ukraine has had the Brave1 cluster operating for two years, which has become the largest angel investor in the defense tech sector in Ukraine and has already provided startups with over UAH 2.2 billion in grants.
“Now Brave1, this successful experience, is being scaled to Europe. In fact, we are launching a European Brave, where we will continue to invest in both Ukrainian and European projects. There will be a separate budget for this. We are creating a separate market for defense startups,” said Mykhailo Fedorov.
At the start, Ukraine and the EU will each invest €50 million in the initiative. It is planned that the fund will operate with larger sums in the future, as other countries are ready to join BraveTech EU. Previously, European companies had useful developments, but there was no convenient platform for Ukraine to cooperate with them. Now a separate joint market for defense startups will be created.
Among the first joint projects could be solutions with a high level of autonomy, tools for combating guided bombs and fiber-optic drones. These can be scaled according to the situation on the front.
AI in War
Today, artificial intelligence is actively used for military purposes: from decoding battlefield images and videos to locate enemy positions, to guiding FPV drones. Additionally, a separate grant program is being launched focused on AI in drones, as this is the future battlefield.
“We need to remove drone operators from the battlefield. The Russians created the ‘Rubikon’ unit, which actively hunts our operators. Therefore, our task is to ensure maximum remote control and then implement autonomy. This is the next step of the war. The goal is for an operator to control a drone on the battlefield from any city in the country. Later, full drone autonomy. But this may take years,” explained Mykhailo Fedorov.
Updates to the E-Points System
Recently, the government updated the Army of Drones.Bonus programme — the motivational system for military units, also known as e-Points. Now, with earned combat points, soldiers can receive drones as well as electronic warfare systems and ground robotic complexes from the Brave1 Market. The entire process will be online to get technology to the battlefield faster and without unnecessary paperwork.
“We see from the numbers how some units have grown by receiving more drones thanks to this motivational system. Also, there are many indirect results. On one hand, the unit grows, and on the other, we get data that allows for making the right management decisions. We have collected real-time battlefield data that no other system has,” emphasized Mykhailo Fedorov.
“BraveTech EU is a new strategic step in developing cooperation between the defense industries of the EU and Ukraine. The European Union and its member states have manufacturing potential that can help Ukraine create new defense systems and enhance the resilience of all Europe. On the other hand, our defense industry can learn a lot from the innovative and dynamic Ukrainian defense technology community, its industry, and ecosystem. We will deepen integration — this is extremely important for both sides: for Ukraine and for the EU,” added Andrius Kubilius, EU Commissioner for Defense and Space.
