Despite the ongoing war, Ukraine continues to push to improve and grow its defense industry. Some local projects had to be rushed through the process of development from a startup technology to a full-blown production.
For example, it’s been announced that series production of the remote machine gun platform ShaBlya (Sword) has begun in Ukraine. There is hope that soon it will help protect the lives of the defenders of Ukraine.
ShaBlya is designed to fit on various vehicles, like Humvees and ground drones. However, it can protect stationary positions too. Image credit: Mil.gov.ua via Wikimedia (CC BY 4.0)
Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, says that ShaBlya, a remote-controlled machine gun platform, which began as a startup but now is a real weapons project, will help protect the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.
It is a good example of Ukraine pushing for innovation at a time of war and trying to find innovative solutions to the permanent problem of having significantly fewer troops than Russia. Russia is a way bigger country and it will always have more boots on the ground, but Ukraine can counter the Russian numbers with quality. Such as the one ShaBlya is designed to bring into a modern battlefield.
Simply put, the ShaBlya is a remotely controlled machine gun platform. It can be placed by trenches, various buildings, or in fortified positions. The soldier does not need to stand at the machine gun, where he would be putting himself in harm’s way.
Instead of manning the machine gun directly, a soldier can operate ShaBlya remotely and for that, this platform has motors to move it around for targeting and electronic sights. The platform is said to be adaptable to a variety of machine guns, but at the moment it is being used with 7.62 mm machine guns, which are NATO standard. Heavier machine guns would require a more rigid platform with a better ammo delivery solution.
‼️ Ukraine for the first time contracted the robotic turrets “ShaBlya”, – Fedorov. pic.twitter.com/NFdToGdHfI
— The Ukrainian Review (@UkrReview) January 9, 2024
“ShaBlya is an innovation and an example of a modern weapon… Our task is to help create innovations so that they reach the battlefield faster and can be used immediately,” Mykhailo Fedorov emphasized.
And indeed the ShaBlya project had some impressive pace. It was created as a startup during the time when the Russian invasion had already started. The ShaBlya was designed with remote-controlled platforms in mind. In other words, innovative Ukrainians were thinking about battle bots.
On September 22 2023 already the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense authorised the operational deployment of the ShaBlya – literally months after its inception. And now, at the beginning of 2024, we’re hearing that the series production of this weapons platform has started.
It is incredible that the defense industry of Ukraine chose growth and innovation instead of pure survival. Who knows – maybe ShaBlya will be developed into a global product.
Written by Povilas M.
Sources: TSN.ua, Armyrecognition.com