A Kyiv equipment startup, CODE380, has drawn attention with the D·Vision SDR, a pocket-sized receiver that can display live camera feeds from many Russian drones. The device gives Ukrainian drone teams a way to monitor aircraft that might otherwise be watching them.
The drones transmit video over the air without scrambling it, allowing anyone with a compatible receiver to view the feed. That can help a Ukrainian unit see a drone’s route and what its operator is targeting before it strikes.
At about 10 ounces, the receiver weighs less than half as much as competing Ukrainian models, according to Defense News. It can also monitor radio frequencies used by newer Russian Molniya drones, which began using them for video in June.
Radio specialist Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, an adviser to Ukraine’s president, said in a June Facebook post cited by Defense News that most detectors either do not pick up those frequencies or detect them poorly. He cautioned that relying too heavily on a detector could be fatal.
The receiver may face limits as drone technology changes. Beskrestnov has warned that a shift from analog to digital video could make devices like the D·Vision SDR unable to receive the feeds. The New York Times reported in August that some Molniya drones use Nvidia chips for AI guidance and emit no signals.
Sources: TechCrunch.