Ukraine is using helium-filled balloons to extend the range of its attack drones
Aerobavovna, which was founded in 2023, is supplying Ukraine's military with tethered, helium-filled balloons equipped with airborne radio repeaters, extending the range and effectiveness of the country's drones.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has been defined by drone warfare, but drone operators have faced a number of challenges, including line-of-sight obstacles, which can cause drones to lose contact if radio signals are disrupted, and electronic warfare systems, which can jam communications.
That's where Aerobavovna comes in.
The company's aerostats are designed for surveillance, communication, and first-person-view (FPV) drone signal transmission, and help establish stable communication signals in the battlefield's tricky conditions.
Fitted with antennas and radio repeaters, Aerobavovna's aerostats anchor high over the battlefield to help Ukrainian drones continue operating in spite of obstacles and to maintain comms over much greater distances.
You need "some kind of airborne radio repeater that allows drones to fly closer to the ground," Yuriy Vysoven, Aerobavovna's CEO, told Business Insider.
"For ground drones, it's crucial because their ground-to-ground signal would only reach the first hill; beyond that, you lose direct line of sight and, consequently, the connection," he said, adding that about 50 balloons were deployed "all around the front line" in Ukraine.
While aerostats aren't new technology, Aerobavovna's products have been designed to meet the demands of the modern battlefield, allowing for rapid deployment times.
Aerobavovna's balloons, which the firm says can be deployed in five to 25 minutes, are made with lightweight polymers and can remain airborne for up to seven days. They can lift repeater systems up to a height of 1 km (about 0.6 miles) and carry a payload of up to 25 kg (around 55 lbs), the company said.
The company, which says it produces around 10 to 20 balloons per month, recently announced that it had developed a new aerostat capable of carrying more advanced equipment.
In an interview with the Ukrainian outlet Militarnyi, engineers from the company said they had created a new model that can hold a payload of up to 66 lbs, enabling it to carry more powerful equipment such as electronic warfare systems.
While the company has found success supplying tethered aerostats to the Ukrainian military, it continues to grapple with technical and structural hurdles as it scales.
One persistent challenge is maintaining stability and precision in airborne conditions, especially critical for payloads like FPV drone radio repeaters, which require highly accurate antenna positioning.
"Stability is a big problem," Vysoven said. "For FPV drone radio repeaters, you need to position the antennas really, really precisely," but wind and turbulence make that very hard.
Funding also remains a major constraint.
Despite strong demand and a battlefield-proven product, capital is scarce for Ukrainian hardware startups.
Vysoven said the company has received investment offers in the range of $40 million, but considers that far below what's needed and called that figure "a shame."
"In California, you can raise that with just a pitch deck and a latte. I have a real product, 30 engineers building it, and it's already deployed," he said.
"And we still struggle to raise enough to scale," he added.
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