The Ukrainian army attacked the Russian army for the first time on 24 August with a new weapon, the Palianytsia drone missile. [Palianytsia is a traditional Ukrainian bun; this word is difficult for Russians to pronounce correctly, so it is used as a shibboleth – ed.]
I’m probably just slow but I hadn’t thought about this before. I wonder if Ukraine could actually become an exporter of weapons in the future given current investment in local industry out of necessity, battle testing and rapid innovation.
There’s definitely going to be a market for it.
Ukraine had lots of military industry after the fall of the Soviet union. From ships to missiles to helicopters to big ass planes.
It’s just that they pissed most of it away.
Uneducated here, how?
Corruption. The common trope is that vultures feasted on the corpse of the Soviet Union.
I think their nickname used to be “the fist of the USSR”, because that’s where most of their military-industrial complex was actually located.
Their drones are definitely attracting attention for their innovations and effectiveness. So many different weapons manufacturers are participating in the war. I hope Ukraine can take advantage and create their own industry, born of their reputation of defense.
They sure could. But I think they still have a pretty big corruption problem that they would have to deal with first to be able to properly seize that opportunity. But I hope I’m wrong.
You can be corrupt and still have thriving industry and even innovate.
Corruption is a scale, so it’s fair to say all countries are corrupt. The main impact is on people without a direct line with politicians, which means CEOs get to benefit the most - after politicians of course.