Marcel Gascon |
Mikoláyiv (Ukraine) (EFE).- The Ukrainian Angry Birds are already hitting the invading Russian forces behind the front line with their flagship product, the Backfire, a drone capable of flying 35 kilometers autonomously that obtained its first license in December success and has begun to be produced in series.
“Until now all our drones were made by hand, but with the success of the Backfire we have begun to produce the first series of 15 units,” Svitlana Titova, who is in charge of purchasing the parts and electronic components with which these drones are made.
Named after the film and video game of the same name, the Ukrainian Angry Birds are the only unit to raise their own money, design and manufacture their own drones, and use them in theaters themselves.
The unit was born at the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion at the initiative of Ilia Shpolianski, a veteran of the war that broke out in 2014 in Donbas (east) and who returned to his country from Germany to rejoin the army as a volunteer.
After speaking with his many contacts in the military, Shpolianski came to the conclusion that Ukraine desperately needed drones to make up for Russia’s superiority in weapons and troops.
“Before this war started, I had no idea about drones or electronics,” says the entrepreneur-turned-soldier, about a lack of experience he shares with nearly everyone in his unit.
Engineers and programmers
To make the project a reality, Shopolianski came into contact with engineers, programmers and electronics specialists who adapted their knowledge to the urgency of the moment and began to design drones according to the requirements that their boss received from the front.
With creativity and money from donations that are never enough, the team has developed in its laboratory in the city of Mikoláyiv (south) several different models of drones that they later test in a training field in the area.
In addition to drones capable of dropping bombs of various calibers on the enemy, the Angry Birds laboratory prepares ammunition for unmanned devices that are already in the endowment of other army units.
“This is grenade launcher ammunition. We activated it for the border patrol guys, so they can launch it with their Mavic quadcopters,” Andrí, a 21-year-old programmer who joined the Angry Birds more than two months ago, told Efe.
Along with Andriy, he also prepares bombs for drones such as the Mavic or Backfire himself, his father, Volodímir, an army explosives specialist who has taught his son the profession.
“At 68 I am too old to be a professional soldier. Now I am retired and I am a volunteer. Here I use my experience in the army ”, declares Volodimir while he watches Andrí work.
“Knowledge saves lives”
Although the first Bakfires deliver daily results on the front lines, the goal of its founder and the rest of the team is to make a decisive long-term contribution to a modernization of the Ukrainian armed forces that will allow them to combat the Russian military threat with technology and at the lowest possible price in Ukrainian human lives.
Shpolianski sees it as difficult to expel Russia from Ukrainian territory in the immediate future, and is preparing for a long war in which the development of devices that minimize contact with the enemy with his own means will be key to Ukraine’s victory.
“Knowledge saves lives, both civilians and soldiers,” Genadi Kirilov, the IT manager of this NGO, told Efe from the offices of Heroes for Ukraine, which is the civil face of the Angry Birds and raises funds for the unit while helping society to face the reality of war.
Since the beginning of this war, Heroes of Ukraine has trained with a simulation program more than a hundred drone pilots who already use the skills acquired in the ranks of the Angry Birds or other army units deployed on the front lines.
The NGO also offers assistance of all kinds to the victims of the war and free tactical medicine courses that hundreds of Mikolayiv civilians have undergone.
“Russia systematically attacks civilians, and we want the population to be as prepared as possible to survive,” says Oleksandra Blintsova, the translator-turned-volunteer who runs these courses.