Ukrainian civilians help build up their country’s drone fleet

 

This small and neat table by the window is Julia Zahara's workplace. For half a year, she has been doing her part assembling drones in her home. "I didn't hesitate on whether I would succeed or not. I had the goal of making drones," Julia, a professional product designer, assembles the drone using detailed instructions sent to her by Social Drone UA, an online project that provides Do-it-yourself instructions and technical support for those who want to help the Ukrainian Army.

"I ordered the spare parts from the links available in the community chat. There, everyone is looking for where and what can be found cheaper. All these are ordered from China, and it takes about a month for delivery. Donations cover most expenses."

The idea of creating a civilian community of drone makers came from IT specialist Oi Assanov, a volunteer. He found a way to avoid import costs and provide less expensive FPV drones that can be equipped to seek out and destroy targets. There is a limit on the import of spare parts after which you have to pay customs duty. But if you involve many people so that they separately order small batches of spare parts, there will be no customs duty. They also save on rent because the drones are stored at home and on salaries because they are all volunteers.

Another big advantage is that they do not need security at one large production site where one rocket could hit and there'll be no more plant. But now more than 5,000 Ukrainians across the country are involved in the project. "I couldn't imagine what might destroy it," Assanov says.

Both civilian and military experts test the drones for quality and performance. Ma, who gave only his first name for security reasons, makes sure the drones are ready to fly. "I check the frame, the direction of the motors, and whether the drone can take off. Next, I check if there is a video in this drone. I see that the video needs to be converted to another format. It can be solved in 3 minutes."

Julia herself has made 13 drones in six months. "It helps a lot with mental health. Assembling drones is like playing with a construction toy but with a purpose. When I send drones, I constantly think, 'Please serve well.'"

Social Drone UA says it tests and sends about 400 drones to the front line every week and expects to provide 20,000 drones to the war effort this year.