German IRIS-T will significantly increase number of downed Russian helicopters. Column by Serhiy Zgurets

Ukrainian Gekata radio reconnaissance complex

Anton Mikhnenko, a military expert, said that radio reconnaissance systems operate in a passive mode. The main task is to detect working radars that are part of anti-aircraft missile units; observation radars to assess the air situation. The system detects the location of radars from the air. If we use it in the air, we understand the radio situation on the ground. With this information - the coordinates of the target - we can destroy it. The main thing is that the system is passive and cannot be seen. It has a small reflection surface, so it is difficult for Russian air defense units to spot it. The complex should not work on the front line, not at a distance of 10-15 km from the observation line. It can reconnoiter at a distance of up to 400 km and fly outside the range of Russian anti-aircraft missile units that can hit the complex and effectively perform its tasks.

Ukraine is not the first country to create a ground or airborne means of radio reconnaissance. There are many manufacturers in the world that use passive systems. Ever since the Cold War, there have been manufacturers from Western Europe that use aircraft suspensions with enhanced electronic intelligence systems inside. Some of them carry out radio reconnaissance, i.e., detect the positions of air defense units, and some carry out radio reconnaissance, i.e., ensure the operation of radio stations used by Russians to communicate with each other. There are solutions, but they are installed on a classic thermal imaging platform. A certain suspension is added to it. This is how communication means are used on the aircraft and information is transmitted to the ground. 

This solution is placed on a drone. There are also American solutions, but they are on more advanced UAVs. And this is a Ukrainian drone and Ukrainian know-how that solves many radio reconnaissance tasks.

The company said that even before the full-scale war, it had conducted water resistance tests, and now it has announced that it has a technical department that uses a drone, and the configuration has become public. This project is moving forward. We would like it to be faster, but the process has been delayed due to the full-scale war. However, Anton Mikhnenko is convinced that the company will use this complex, as it is of interest not only in Ukraine but also abroad.

Simplification of foreign spare parts' import for military equipment

Maksym Polyvianyi, executive director of NAUDI, the National Association of Defense Industry Enterprises, said that any simplification of the import of spare parts for foreign equipment is beneficial to enterprises, but this is not the first step the government has taken in this direction. Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 1378 was adopted a long time ago. It removed a number of items from the military control list from the scope of the Law "On State Control over International Transfers of Military and Dual-Use Goods." This is the third amendment to the resolution. Imports of all items on the military control list that are not subject to international reporting have been removed from state export control. This is a very good step on the part of the government.

NAUDI and other NGOs and enterprises developed a draft resolution and collected data for more comfortable work, because military conditions are difficult for manufacturers: rocket attacks, logistics disruptions, problems in relations with foreigners, permits, import licenses. Even a single one-day delay in delivery is very expensive. Currently, sights, electronic and radio electronic devices, armor protection elements, chassis, and engines can be imported without permits from the Export Control Service. Resolution No. 1275 changes the rules for purchasing domestic and imported military equipment. The share of profits of enterprises is up to 20%. Currently, the only profit of Ukraine's defense industry is domestic government orders, as export contracts are not available.

This is the only way to develop, pay salaries and taxes. The State Audit Service still has claims against last year's contracts of the Defense Ministry. The auditors' opinion is valid, and the Ministry is continuing to work with the companies and the State Audit Service. The problem arose due to certain regulatory conflicts, when the auditors read the requirements of the Cabinet of Ministers' resolution in their own way and recorded it in an official document. The new resolution solved the problems of new contracts, but the difficulties with last year's contracts and those signed in the first half of this year remain. Everything possible is being done to resolve them.Time is a very important factor. Ukrainian companies cannot provide 50 armored vehicles in a week. There is a long, several-month production cycle. Imported supplies can quickly meet the needs of the Armed Forces, so they are sometimes given preference. However, Ukrainian companies also receive orders, manufacture and supply products.

Shooting down Russian Ka-52 helicopters

Yesterday it became known that two Russian Ka-52 helicopters were shot down. One of them was shot down near Robotyne using the Swedish RBS 70. The system was provided to Ukraine in April, but this is the first time that the RBS 70 NG MANPADS with a range of up to 9 km have been used to shoot down a Ka-52, as Russia is actively trying to use these helicopters to deter the advance of Ukrainian forces in the south and other parts of the front. The helicopter usually uses missiles with a range of up to 8 km, and Ukraine's regular MANPADS sometimes cannot reach it.

The use of Swedish systems came as a complete surprise to Russia. The second Ka-52 was probably shot down by a regular SAM, because the commander of the Air Force, General Oleshchuk, reported its destruction in the Bakhmut direction. I think it was a Buk or other Ukrainian air defense weapon. I think this will soon be joined by the German IRIS-T, which Germany announced yesterday. The systems are interesting and unique because they are placed on the same chassis: four missiles, radar, an amphibious base that allows you to drive and sail. These systems will be used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the number of downed Russian aircraft will increase significantly.