How a Ukrainian startup is making river "aircraft carriers" for UAVs. Blitz with the CEO of Strug

In 10 months, the team has developed and manufactured seven boards. Some of them have already been handed over to the Defense Forces for development and feedback. The company is focused on R&D and go-to-market, with plans to scale into a global market estimated at over $2 billion, with a Strug target of $100 million.

Blitz interview with Yevgeny, CEO of Strug

— How did the idea for Strug come about? Where did you start?

We started with a direct request from my friend, who was fighting at the bridgehead in Krynki at the time. It was a huge logistical problem, and we realized that solving the problem of river logistics for drones had huge potential. Unfortunately, we did not manage to create the first river drone before the operation was completed, but it was an impetus in which direction we needed to move.

— So Strug is essentially a mobile launch pad?

That's right. Strug is a small autonomous boat. It can sail away from the shore, launch a UAV, and then relay communications and control of that UAV through itself. This allows us to hit targets more than 300 km from the front line at a cost of less than $10,000 per mission.

— What is the management logic? How many operators are needed?

We need two operators. One controls the boat, the other launches the drone. The drones are installed in modules and connected to the radio station on the boat. The launch occurs at the appropriate moment. The boat can be easily used by a standard UAV unit and does not require special equipment.

— What types of drones do you currently have?

We are quite flexible. Our concept is a drone boat, that is, an aircraft carrier. We have several models: from those that carry eight standard 10-inch FPV drones, to models that can carry one large bomber, like the Nemesis or Vampire, or four 16-inch interceptor drones. If we talk about logistical operations, one drone boat can carry up to 500 kg of payload.

— What were the biggest unforeseen technical challenges you faced during development?

It turned out to be a very complex product. We thought it would be a simple integration of off-the-shelf solutions. But we faced challenges when switching from fresh water to salt water.

Salt water is a great conductor, penetrating the smallest cracks and instantly shorting out equipment, rendering it inoperable. Also a huge challenge was the transition from radio communication at a distance of 10 km to satellite communication at 300 km.

— What about components? To what extent is Strug a localized product?

We are guided by the principle that the front needs the product “here and now”. We do not develop complex components ourselves, but look for ready-made solutions on the market. We started with Chinese components, but now there are solutions in Ukraine that we already use. We manufacture the cases in Ukraine from sheet metal.

The engines are general-purpose, usually Japanese (Suzuki or Honda), as they are not produced in Ukraine. But we are actively integrating Ukrainian components, for example, we are already planning to introduce domestic flight controllers into future models.

— What are the next steps for Strug?

Strug is already at the forefront. Our next steps are R&D of a new production model, development of our own ground control station, and integration of modules with artificial intelligence.

Strug characteristics

The Strug drone boat currently has two modifications: river and sea.

Strug Sea

Strug River

Recall that in early spring, it became known about a new upgrade of the Ukrainian surface drone Magura V5 , which allows it to operate together with a "swarm" of decoy drones. This overloads Russian defense systems, allowing the main strike vehicles to reach the target.

Recently, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov, confirmed that a Magura drone managed to destroy a Russian multi-role Su-30 fighter jet , the cost of which is estimated at about $50 million.