Solutions to win: newly developed Ukrainian Sirko drone enters mass production

The Ukrainian unmanned aircraft complex Sirko, which war-torn Kharkiv natives developed, was put into mass production. 

Ihor Krynychko, chair of the supervisory board of Skyassist Scientific and Production Company LLC, said at the presentation of Ukrainian-made UAV Angry Birds Demo Day that the development company will soon present the second version of the drone, Ukrinform reports.

What is the problem?

Ukrainian troops launched a counteroffensive in two directions of the front. Ukrainian soldiers need military equipment, drones, and ammunition to advance successfully.

What is the solution?

Serial production of its own unmanned aerial reconnaissance complex, Sirko, has started in Ukraine, and soon the development company plans to present another version of the UAV.

How does it work?

"Finally, we can say that we have already launched serial production. And now it continues," Krynychko said.

He said they managed to establish relations with manufacturers of the necessary components — not only Chinese but also Israeli, Canadian, Taiwanese, and other countries.

According to Krynych, about a week ago, a commission from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine decided to grant the troops access to the operation of Sirko air defense systems.

"Codification is currently underway. In my opinion, the state is not doing everything smoothly in these conditions, but I see that it is working very carefully in this direction," he noted.

While there is no question of state procurement, the complexes are purchased for the military with volunteer funds. The developers have already collected feedback on practical use.

"When they say 'everything is great, everything is fine,' and we get such reviews, this is insufficient feedback for engineers and designers. But when they call me and say, 'But it would be better this way, can we add this?' This feedback is necessary. It is the motivation for us. We are working, improving. We will present Sirko 2 in a few weeks," said Krynychko.

He said feedback from Ukrainian defenders was received from the northern and southern front lines.

Krynchko reported that during June, almost a hundred complexes were shipped for the military. At the same time, the capacity allows to make 800-1000 per month. He added that the company continues to develop an attack version of the drone.

Background 

Kharkiv engineers created a reconnaissance drone, which has a non-detachable body and is made of radio-transparent polymer.

On July 24, the Angry Birds Demo Day event was held in Kharkiv, where about 50 UAV manufacturers gathered, 24 of which demonstrated their products to representatives of volunteer organizations and socially responsible businesses. The event was organized by the Dignitas Foundation (which implements a project to train and support Victory Drones UAV operators) with the support of the Kharkiv regional military administration. Previously, similar presentations were held in Kyiv, Dnipro, and Lviv.

Rubryka reported that the Turkish company Baykar had started the construction of a factory to produce Bayraktar strike drones in Ukraine.

Rubryka also reported that Serhii Prytula's charitable foundation announced a new fundraiser, "Detect – Destroy," for unmanned complexes for the Defense Intelligence.