Battlefield Experience And Advanced Software Build Better Drones

Lithuanian company Granta Autonomy has delivered hundreds of FPV attack drones to Ukraine with more to come under a €1 million contract. These are the new GA-10FPV-AI model, with advanced communications and lock-on-target capability. Unlike others, Granta Autonomy is no new start-up but has been preparing for a drone war for more than ten years.

“Even in 2014 it was already obvious that drones would create a difference,” says CEO and co-founder Gediminas Guoba, who explained how their success comes from a keen focus on smarter software and manufacturability.

The Vilnius-based outfit is one of the few foreign companies to produce highly capable drones able to survive the intense electronic warfare environment, and to do it at low cost. The U.S. equivalents tend to be both astronomically expensive and vulnerable to jamming. The challenges of price and jamming which can be met – but only with an appreciation battlefield conditions.

Preparing For An Invasion

Guoba’s journey started in 2014 with the Russian invasion and occupation of Crimea. Russian aggression was a direct threat not just to Ukraine but to the Baltic states. A civilian without military experience, Guoba had no trouble identifying the technology which would have the biggest impact. He and co-founder Laurynas Litvinas set up Granta Autonomy company to produce an asymmetric weapon which would help Lithuania counter an invasion by much larger Russian forces. Ten years on that vision has been fully validated as small drones have become the most important weapons on the battlefield, doing twice as much damage as all other weapons put together.

And while hardware matters, the important part is the software.

“The hardware in FPVs is all at least ten years old,” says Guoba. “The difference is in the software. The autopilot is all software, the communications capabilities to beat jammers are software, the optical lock on target is software. Software is the key, especially when it comes to autonomy. You can have two drones with the same hardware but software can give them completely different capabilities.”

Smart communications are an obvious example.

“Our GA-10FPV-AI attack drone employs a unique anti-jamming approach,” says Guoba. “Instead of seeking alternative frequencies, it powers through the jammed signal.”

He compares this to talking against loud background noise. If someone has difficulty hearing you, you speak louder and more slowl. Granta’s anti-jamming approach switches to a lower bit rate.

Guoba says that in tests in Ukraine, even when their drones’ communication frequency was known, electronic warfare operators using a powerful 2.5-kilowatt jammer could do nothing against them. In operations against the Russians, their Hornet XR was the only drone able to operate in regions of intense jamming.

Software is also the key to navigation in jammed environments. GPS and other satellite navigation systems are widely jammed or spoofed, sending drones in the wrong direction. Granta Autonomy have developed vision-based navigation which, combined with other sensors, allows drones to compare scenery with stored maps and find their way with high precision without a satellite signal.

Real War Experience

After the 2022 invasion, Granta Autonomy drones were quickly sent into action, but Guoba says the feedback from Ukraine did not give a full idea of how the drones were performing. The only way was for the developers to go to the front and fly drones themselves. It was an eye-opening experience.,

“For sure, it was surprising,” says Guoba.

The continuous artillery fire and bombing, and the number of Russian drones , meant that even survival was challenging. The threat of being spotted and targeted was ever-present.

“I don’t remember a single time when there was not an enemy ISR [intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance] drone above us,” says Guoba.

This experience made the team think hard about tactics and technology for drones to take off and land without their operators being detected, and how to extract operators as quickly as possible.

“There were many different situations I wouldn’t even think drone operations were possible, but to people there they are just everyday things that they need to deal with,” says Guoba.

Other factors included electronic warfare, both from Russian and from Ukrainian forces, and co-ordination with air defence so their drones were not brought down by friendly fire.

“Participation, doing those missions as the front lines, that is absolutely different compared to working in military ranges and on exercises,” says Guoba.

He says when talking to other suppliers he is very aware of the difference between those who have battlefield experience, and those who have only seen conflict from a distance. The ones with experience do not assume that everything will work, for example that communications will be available. They know that everything can and does fail.

“It changes your mindset,” says Guoba.

Smarter Targeting With AI

The AI system that allows an operator to lock on to a target is a relatively recent feature. This counters short-range jamming and improves the hit rate. Earlier systems from other suppliers in Ukraine were not always reliable, but Guoba says the software has developed rapidly.

“Staying locked on is more or less a solved problem,” says Guoba. “The algorithms to track objects have improved a lot in the past year.”

Guoba says that while there are many solutions around in this field, how well they work depends on how good your AI engineers are. He says their team is very strong when it comes to cramming the maximum capability into limited processing power. Their next challenge is a targeting system which will not just lock on to an object and follow it, but which will select an exact impact point.

“I see terminal guidance becoming more and more smart, we want to be more precise what we are targeting,” says Guoba “I don’t just want to hit anywhere on a building, I want to hit the third window along on the second story.”

When attacking a truck, for example, an FPV might know to go around the front and target the engine or the cabin. Against a tank, it would know to attack the turret rear where the armor is thinnest and a hit from a small warhead will destroy it instantly. Skilled FPV pilots can do this with practice, but automation would mean even a novice pilot could destroy targets with ease.

“We are working on how to help the operator to define terminal guidance,” says Guoba.

Breaking Reliance On China

Software is important, but it needs abundant, low-cost hardware. Affordability has been vital to the success of small drones. Guoba notes that in Ukraine, nothing can move, day or night, in a six-mile zone between the lines without being targeted by drones. This is only possible because the drones are available in huge numbers, unlike, for example, costly anti-tank missiles.

“It is not enough to design,” says Guoba “It is very, very, very important to think from the first step how you will make it.”

He notes that, for example, drones designed to launch from a cannister, like the U.S. Switchblade, are likely challenging to build at low cost due to the complexity of the launch process and the need for pop-out wings or rotors. The Switchblade 300 costs over $50,000 a shot, many times more than Granta’s FPVs. The Bolt-M, perhaps the nearest direct U.S. equivalent to Granta’s FPV, is something over over ten times as costly and carries a warhead half as big.

“We make everything as simple as possible,” says Guoba.

Granta Autonomy do not source components from China. While many Russian and Ukrainian drone makers use Chinese parts, this creates a supply chain dependency. It also means supporting Chinese industry rather than building a local base.

“We source everything locally,” says Guoba. “For most things – PCBs, magnets, motors – there is no problem. For others, we have been helping to grow partners developing one or more components.”

The giant Chinese drone maker DJI, who control 70% of the world’s consumer drone market, will be difficult to match in terms of economies of scale and vertical integration. But even if it costs a little more, a local drone industry is important for national security.

“They are huge and amazing,” says Guoba, “It will be hard to copy what they do. But at least we need to go that way and build those technologies.”

Future Drones

Granta is currently shipping GA-10FPV-AI attack drones. These carry a larger payload than early FPVs – up to 3 kilos /6.6 pounds — and the combination of jam-resistant communications and terminal guidance gives a high chance of scoring a hit at ranges of up to 20 kilometers/ 12 miles. This will improve as the AI is steadily upgraded.

Ukrainian forces also operate Granta’s Hornet XR drone. This is a fixed wing reconnaissance aircraft with a three-hour flight time which can carry out completely autonomous missions at ranges of up to 100 miles. Not needing to communicate with an operator makes it difficult to detect and impossible to jam. This enables precision strikes at distant targets by weapons such as HiMARS.

However, Guoba says they are also looking at other types of drones. In particular they would like to use the same sort of autonomy seen in the Horney XR for a strategic attack.

Small drone technology is moving fast, and the Baltic states have embraced it fully while other countries have been hesitating and wavering. Similarly, small companies have been able to produce efficient, affordable products while larger firms have failed to deliver.

In a year’s time, Granta Autonomy‘s product line may look completely different. But by concentrating on software development and manufacturing processes which will be applicable however drones evolve, the company is in a strong position to drive the evolutionary process rather than following it.