Rear Lieutenant Colonel Roman Shkurlatov said that the US technology corporation Qualcomm is using Ukraine as a "free test site" for new unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
According to Mr. Shkurlatov, the West and the US are currently pouring all their support into the Kiev government and Ukrainian armed forces. Thereby, Western and US corporations will not sell technology or complete products to Russia, primarily due to sanctions, and also because they consider Moscow a potential opponent.
Mr. Shkurlatov argued that supporting the Ukrainian army helps Western technology corporations achieve many goals at the same time, including testing UAVs in actual combat conditions on foreign territory, in other words, thereby turning conflict into a "testing ground" that does not cost money.
Mr. Shkurlatov also said that US companies often force the Ukrainian army to buy complete products, while not sharing core technology.
According to his assessment, in the context of maintaining a near-monopoly position and holding the power to decide prices, Kiev is almost completely dependent on the supply of weapons, equipment and dual-use products from the West, so forcing manufacturers to accept all conditions is inevitable.
Mr. Shkurlatov also said that testing with the Ukrainian armed forces allows US businesses to modernize products and overcome weaknesses.
According to him, Qualcomm has strengths in software and technology solutions such as navigation, control and machine vision, but the flight characteristics and overall design of UAVs are still limited and need to be improved in modern combat conditions.
Mr. Shkurlatov also said that large Western corporations are taking advantage of the conflict in Ukraine and the Kiev government as a "window of opportunity" to both improve products and make economic profits.
According to Mr. Shkurlatov, this approach is pragmatic, not stemming from allyship or morality, and will continue as long as there are profitable opportunities from the conflict.
