The young -recently dismissed- former Defense Minister of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov, is making a surprise! In a development that is causing a sensation in the global defense industry, it was announced that he will collaborate with the CEO of the American company Palantir, Alex Karp, in the establishment of a new company in the defense sector!
According to the statements, the goal will be to develop technology that “will ultimately make the world safer,” a euphemism for the development of new weapons systems. However, he clarifies that “Ukraine will always be my priority,” despite his international business activities. He had received a phone call with a proposal for cooperation from Karp, immediately after his dismissal by Zelensky. This development, with the international vote of confidence in Fedorov, should not make the Ukrainian president particularly happy…
“During the war, our team gained unique experience working on defense technologies with Ukraine and seeing firsthand how technology is transforming modern warfare,” Fedorov said in the press release issued. “Now we want to use this experience to develop technologies that will strengthen Ukraine, help our allies, and ultimately make the world safer.”
Karp’s support logically implies billions of dollars in investment. Karp is obviously investing in the innovative spirit demonstrated by Fedorov and the Ukrainian defense industry. There is also no doubt that discussions have preceded and the two already know, at least in general terms, what innovative ideas will be the technological transformation of which the new company will focus.
The focus of a company like Palantir on Artificial Intelligence (AI) raises reasonable questions about whether technologies will emerge to further “autonomize” the operational operation of new weapons systems… The company has penetrated the Ukrainian market extensively, having won contracts from numerous government agencies.
Fedorov, in his attempt to create advantages in the militarily inferior Ukraine, especially quantitatively, over Russia, gave absolute priority to technology. The crowning glory of his choices was the support and promotion of Delta, the ultra-modern, modular, open architecture battle management system, which provides a picture of the front in real time and uses extensive AI.
It provides a picture of the missions of Ukrainian drones, the radar image and all field data, in a way that ensures centralized supervision of the front. It also facilitates the identification and integration of lessons learned from operations.
