Brave1 Explained

Brave1 is a Government of Ukraine platform to bring together innovative companies with ideas and developments that can be used in the defense of Ukraine, launched on 26 April 2023.[1]

Utilising inventive ideas and the skills of people to create almost anything that will help Ukraine avoid losses and injuries to its forces and/or inflict losses on its enemies.

Funding

Initial funding of 100 million hryvnias (about $2.7 million) was provided at launch.[1] The budget for 2024 is 1.5 billion hryvnias ($39 million).[2]

Objective and method of operation

Brave1 plans to bring experts together who can turn ideas and prototypes into workable weapons that can be used by the armed force of Ukraine within weeks, rather than months or years. The Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Strategic Industries, Ministry of Economy, the National Security and Defense Council, the General Staff of the Armed Forces, and the Ministry of Digital Transformation are all involved in Brave1, with ideas being considered by all interested parties who then allocate a priority rating to the idea, top priority gives immediate fast track to certification.[3]

Brave1 is led by COO Nataliya Kushnerska and links inventors with designers, scientists, manufacturers and key military personnel.

Lines of work include:[4]

Platform effectiveness

15 projects had received funding by August 2023 with another 15 about to receive funding, each receiving around $15–20,000 out of around 200 projects that had received military testing.[5]

In September 2023 Brave1 made a presentation at the first International Forum of Defense Industries (DFNC1) held in Kyiv, attended by 252 companies from 30 countries and held a panel discussion moderated by the COO of Brave1.[6]

By October 2023, 57 projects covering areas such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) or drones, Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV), Uncrewed Underwater Vehicles (UUV) and Uncrewed Surface Vessels (USV) being robotic systems, situational awareness centers, artificial intelligence, cyber security, communication systems and satellite data have received funding of $1m through Brave1. 294 projects have been given priority status and around 1,000 companies are connected to the platform including designers, manufacturers and finance companies.[7] [8] November 2023 saw totals rise to 780 applications with 420 approvals and 84 grants worth $1.53 million given.[2] December saw applications rise to 877, total grants rise to 135 with funds given amounting to $2.35m.[9]

Innovative technology accredited to Brave1

Electronic warfare (EW)

See main article: article.

Equipment

Health

Security and intelligence

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)

Building on the work already undertaken by United24 in raising funds for supplying drones to the Army of Drones, Brave1 seeks to manufacture drones in Ukraine suitable for front line usage.

Unmanned ground vehicles (UGV)

Unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV)

Weapons

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ukraine launches ‘BRAVE1′ tech cluster to boost military capability . 26 April 2023.
  2. Web site: Ukraine's Defense Tech Cluster BRAVE1 Plans to Invest $39M in Startups in 2024 . 7 December 2023.
  3. Web site: Ukraine's deputy minister of digital transformation on building a military tech sector from scratch . 26 October 2023.
  4. Web site: Ukrainian Startup Ecosystem Joins Forces with the Military on BRAVE1 Platform . 15 June 2023.
  5. Web site: BRAVE1 defense technology development cluster awarded $225,000 in grants . 14 August 2023.
  6. Web site: BRAVE1 Newsletter #4 . 23 October 2023.
  7. Web site: Who finances military developments in Ukraine, and which directions are priorities? . 18 October 2023.
  8. Web site: Уже профинансированы проекты на $1,2 млн, дальше – больше. Как работает оборонный кластер Brave1 . 20 October 2023.
  9. Web site: The defense technology cluster Brave1 has funded 135 developments with $2.3 million. . 22 December 2023.
  10. Web site: From Robots to Recycled Vapes, Ukraine's War Effort Gets Inventive . 10 August 2023.
  11. Web site: Ukrainians invent radio that cannot be jammed by Russian electronic warfare . 10 October 2023.
  12. Web site: Jamming wars, part 5: Kyiv deploys newly developed ETER electronic warfare system . 1 November 2023.
  13. Web site: Griselda . 20 November 2023.
  14. Web site: Ukraine develops Piranha jammer to defend its armored vehicles . 2 November 2023.
  15. Web site: Notifies about the approach of an enemy UAV: Ukrainian inventors have created a detector drone . 23 May 2023.
  16. Web site: Brave1 Cluster Developers Created the AD Counter FPV System Against russian FPV Drones . 23 January 2024.
  17. Web site: Brave1 developers have created "invisibility cloak" for Ukrainian military . 4 October 2023.
  18. Web site: Ukraine developed "armoured wheels" for army's pickup trucks — . 30 December 2023.
  19. Web site: Kolossal platform is created for OSINT intelligence . 7 December 2023.
  20. Web site: Saker . 10 November 2023.
  21. Web site: Ukraine approves artifiicial intelligence-enabled Saker drone for use in combat . 8 September 2023.
  22. Web site: AIRLOGIX PROJECT GOR . 10 November 2023.
  23. Web site: Exclusive: Inside Ukraine's secret drone factories . 23 October 2023.
  24. Web site: Ukrspecsystems Unveils the Mini Shark: a Cutting-Edge UAV for Reconnaissance and Target Detection . 27 April 2023.
  25. Web site: About us . 10 November 2023.
  26. Web site: Ukraine conflict: Ukraine develops unmanned mine detector . 27 October 2023.
  27. Web site: Ukrainian Defence Ministry's commission approves Backfire drone resistant to Russian electronic warfare . 20 November 2023.
  28. Web site: The THeMIS UGV . 10 November 2023.
  29. Web site: "Iron Caterpillar" affordable unmanned mine-clearing system being developed in Ukraine . 16 September 2023.
  30. Web site: Ukraine develops new type of kamikaze robots . 24 October 2023.
  31. Web site: Ukraine deploys mine-hauling ground drone against Russia . 25 October 2023.
  32. News: Ukraine's forces destroy bridge with Ratel S ground drone on Bakhmut front – video. 2 April 2024. . 2 April 2024. English.
  33. Web site: Ukrainian UGV Sirko-S1 Shows Up on Battlefield, the Development is in Testing Phase . 10 November 2023.
  34. Web site: Brave1 Cluster Unveils the D-21-11 Robot Able to Perform Various Tasks . 5 January 2024.
  35. Web site: Ukraine is testing the D-21-11 unmanned ground platform . 5 January 2024.
  36. Web site: How a Robot Army Will Change Military Operations: Seven Developments Already Working or Coming Soon to the Front Line . 25 January 2024.
  37. Web site: How Ukraine's naval drones are suppressing Russian navy . 14 August 2023.
  38. Web site: Black Sea Drone War: How a Country with No Warships Has Russia's Navy on the Run . 19 October 2023.
  39. News: Innovative Submarine Drone Is Ukraine's New Weapon Against Russian Navy . Naval News . Sutton . HI . 10 May 2023 . 10 May 2023 .
  40. Web site: Ukrainian Toloka TLK-150: looks like a missile, acts like one, but swims underwater . 15 May 2023.
  41. Web site: Ukrainian company devDroid develops AI-controlled turret for trench defense . 4 September 2023.
  42. Web site: SHABLYA . 7 December 2023.