It seems that in the drone world, the aura of the United States seems to have faded a little, and the evaluation given by the Ukrainian soldiers fighting on the front line is simple and straightforward, the United States is not good, China is good, this is not a casual talk, but a real battlefield experience. This Russia-Ukraine conflict is like a demon mirror, exposing many problems in the United States and the West, and tearing off those fig leafs of the United States and the West.
You see that the manufacturing industry is weak, the foreign policy is in shambles, and now even Silicon Valley, the global center of high-tech R&D and application, has been left behind by its Chinese counterparts, and this gap is even more exciting than a roller coaster.
As a result, not only on the Russian-Ukrainian battlefield, if the Western army does not have a commercial drone made in China, it is like losing its right-hand man, and it will not even fight, and some Ukrainian officers and soldiers even complained that compared with the drones made by Chinese merchants, the quality of the drones manufactured by American companies is simply not half a star, and we can't say that its quality is poor, we can only say that the gap is poor.
Did you know that on April 10th, the Wall Street Journal's big mouth began to gossip again, saying that the Russia-Ukraine conflict has now become a big show for drones, especially those small drones, which is like hanging up. However, the little brothers on the American side don't seem to have kept up with the rhythm, and they haven't come up with anything meaningful so far.
Take the Scadio company in Silicon Valley as an example, they sent hundreds of small drones to the Ukrainian army, which sounds pretty good, right? There is also an aviation environment company, which has also made a lot of switchblade 300 suicide drones to the Ukrainian army. The feedback from the Ukrainian brothers on the front line is not good.
It's not that the quality of these drones is not good, but in front of the electronic warfare god of the Russian army, these drones with super poor anti-jamming capabilities are like a lost child, and they can't find the north if they lose the GPS signal, and in the end they may not even know how they fell, it seems that the little brothers in the United States still have to refuel, otherwise the drama of this drone war, they will become a joke!
U.S. drone start-ups originally dreamed of using the Russia-Ukraine conflict to make their products famous and make huge profits, and by the way, make American-made golden signboards shine and achieve fame and fortune. However, the heart is really higher than the sky, the ideal is very full, but the reality is very skinny, and it is difficult for their drone to even pass theoretically, which is simply a big surprise.
Skaudio CEO Brie also had to admit that the performance of their drones on the front line in Ukraine is simply indescribable. The Ukrainians are not vegetarians, and they have managed to defeat these drones many times, making them completely a platform of failure in a front-line environment.
The CEO is actually doing tai chi in an attempt to cover up the facts. But there are Ukrainian officers who have ruthlessly revealed the truth, American-made drones not only cannot withstand the Russian army's electronic warfare system, but even the flight range and payload cannot reach the level boasted by the manufacturer.
In this way, American drones are often unable to complete the task at all, and even if they barely complete the task, they may fall off the chain on the way back.
Those American drones that cost tens of thousands of dollars a lot did not expect to become disposable on the battlefield, consuming at least 10,000 small drones or similar aircraft every month, such a price is obviously not something Ukraine can afford. The cost performance of American drones is really not good, and the domestic industry cannot hold it, so the Ukrainians have no choice but to turn their attention to Chinese drones that are cheap and durable.
The most famous example of this is DJI's products, where Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhar publicly stated at the Kyiv International Economic Forum last year that the Ukrainian army relies on DJI products to fight despite DJI's refusal to sell drones to countries at war. It is said that Ukraine even buys 60% of DJI's products produced worldwide. This number sounds exaggerated, but DJI itself doesn't know if it's true or not.
After all, DJI said that although they tried their best to control the use of their products in the war, as sellers, they could not restrict the use of consumers, and could only issue a statement condemning any use of DJI products that caused war casualties and losses, which is also a helpless move.
DJI can refuse to sell drones to the official or military in Russia and Ukraine, but if these countries adopt some clever means, use a little brain, and change vests, such as setting up companies with private capital backgrounds, or detouring to other countries to buy, DJI will have nothing to do. Last year, the New York Times found that millions of Chinese-made drones and spare parts were shipped to Ukraine in just a few months, which is really ironic.
Why is this happening? The answer lies in the policies of the U.S. government. U.S. government sanctions have made it difficult for officials and militaries in many countries to obtain U.S. drones, while Chinese drones are favored because of their cost-effectiveness and technological maturity. This is like a cold war in the UAV market, the coldness of American UAVs is in stark contrast to China's prosperity, sometimes no matter how good the policy is, it can't stand the general trend of the market.
Since 2017, the U.S. government has banned Chinese brands such as DJI, not allowing the military and government-funded institutions to use their products, citing security reasons. This trick seems to be clever, but in fact, it lifts a stone and shoots himself in the foot. Because the government failed to provide a decent replacement, DJI's market share in the United States soared.
Not only that, but the sanctions also prohibit American companies from using Chinese-made components, forcing companies to work hard to circumvent China in order to build a drone industry chain. After this series of operations, production costs have skyrocketed, drones have become more and more like luxury goods, and market competitiveness has naturally been greatly reduced. In short, this series of operations by the U.S. government is simply advertising Chinese drones for free, and at the same time making its own companies miserable, and the effect of this sanctions policy can be said to be more than worth the loss!