Die a hundred times virtually to survive in real combat: How simulators help the Ukrainian military

"One day, we were approached by a representative of the US government from an agency that authorises funding for the purchase of simulators and other military equipment for the entire world. He invited us to an event where soldiers would test our equipment and give us feedback. As a result, we will be told whether our products will be used for supply to third countries. So now we are going to one of the major military bases in the United States for an assessment," say the founders of Skiftech that manufactures tactical simulators for military training.

What exactly made the Ukrainian company interested in the US government? How do the simulators work? How many Ukrainian soldiers have already been trained? Are the founders seeking investors? The company's founders, Yuriy Lavrenov and Mykhailo Obod, told Mind about this and many other things.

On the essence of the product and its origins

Skiftech is a tactical simulators manufacturer for training military units. In the words of its founders, their arsenal includes up to 90% various weapons, ranging from Kalashnikovs and pistols to tanks and artillery. Mykhailo Obod explains that the simulator provides maximum realism when it comes to battle. "The military can walk on an actual field and fire from their actual weapon. Our system mimics gunfire with the same combat characteristics," says the co-founder.

The company then expanded its services and began providing laser tag which was highly appreciated not only by customers but also other paintball clubs.

In 2013, lecturers from the Kharkiv military school called Skiftech, asking about lasertag for military use and this opened up an entirely new direction for them, defence technology – something they knew nothing about before receiving that call. "That's how this direction emerged," recalls Mykhailo Obod. 

How does the system work?

Simulator is a software-hardware complex, mainly composed of software. To read data, hardware is used: emitters are hung on each soldier, automatic or tank. "That means there is a detector that receives the signal and an emitter to send it back," Obod explains. Then all the information is directed to the server, where the commander has the possibility to analyse each interception.

Lavrenov adds that the training process was primitive earlier: blank ammunition was used and there was no feedback about whether troopers were hit or not. "That is, it was sort of a rehearsal of real battle just with sounds of shooting or movement," the founder compares. According to him, now practically all military training in Ukraine is unilateral: soldiers shoot at targets and practice against imaginary opponents. "The peculiarity of our simulators is that it's two-sided training – strength against strength. Because you have a real smart enemy against you. This allows getting experience which will be useful in battle," co-founder says.

According to him, when military personnel get hit they feel as if they were killed on the battlefield. Thus muscular memory arises which forms awareness during fight. "So we provide a chance to die electronically so people can analyse what they did wrong. People can die hundreds of times so that in real battle they can save their lives," Yuriy Lavrenov adds.

On manufature

Skiftech is a Ukrainian manufacturing company. Most of their parts are sourced locally while 30% are imported. Electronics come from China and exclusive components are purchased from the US and Europe. According to its founders, they aim to do what's best for the country. They produce new simulators that work with foreign weaponry.

On the cost and payback of systems

It depends on the complexity of the system. For example, the price of basic shooting systems starts at $25,000. According to the co-founders, the simulator justifies itself from the second or third shot. "For example, for an ATGM, one missile costs $20,000–24,000, and our simulator costs $28,000. But there is a very large gap between the minimum and maximum cost, as different systems have different applications," explains Obod.

Who are the clients?

In general, these are training centres: polygons that prepare military personnel, educational institutions, military units. In particular, they are training centres of the SBU, border guards, Territorial Defence and other units of the Ukrainian Army. "Now we give a lot of equipment for free. Also, trainings are arranged on the basis of our paintball club," says Mykhailo Obod.

On military training

At the beginning of work with simulators the company instructs how to work with them. After that the military can independently configure scenarios for further tactical training. He adds that earlier the company tried to help out with training methods. “But we realized that the military know better what their unit needs,” explains Lavrenov.

On promotion in foreign markets

Currently Skiftech exports laser tag equipment to 65 countries and simulators for tactical preparation only domestically – but founders point out that if governments of foreign countries are interested they are ready to start this process as well.

Gavrilov notes that they sold several simulators to dealers abroad but these sales were test cases – “test purchase is one of stages necessary for sale then comes full scale demonstration . Now negotiating with few countries" adds Obod

On wartime challenges and team relocation

Skiftech was preparing for full-scale war as early as the beginning of February. "We were in Kharkiv, 60 km from the border. So, we had a plan. We thought about where to relocate and what is needed for relocation. We had a plan. But did we stick to it? Probably not," says Lavrenov.

He recalls that on the morning of February 24th, the team was looking for premises for future production. "We understood that our simulators would be important for the army, so we could not stay in Kharkiv. We had to use all chances to protect each employee creating the product," Lavrenov adds. Therefore, over the next three hours, the company made the decision to move production to Western Ukraine.

First, adjusting supply chains was a great challenge. Since full-scale invasion began, most suppliers could not continue working: some stopped working, others changed focus. This affected delivery time of all products. Furthermore, only 60% of the team moved to the new production location, while others have been working remotely. That is why it was initially difficult to set up communication." For us speed of communication is very important because this is how we get paid. Now all processes have been rearranged under new conditions," explains the interlocutor.

On competitors

As the co-founders say, there are no similar projects in Ukraine. The main competitors are global companies Cubic, Saab, Thales. "But they don't even know yet that we are their competitors," laughs Obod. "We're just much smaller than they are. But they've been producing this equipment for about 30 years."

On investment

The company has no external investors. The founders invested 95% of the profit into production. "About $800, 000 was invested in non-military fields, three times more in defence," says Obod. "Previously we did not carry out any calculations regarding funding. Only since last year did we introduce statistics, since we realised that our gross profit is quite high, but we do not see it. It turned out to be simple: we spend a lot of money on developments," Mykhailo explains.

At present, the company is not looking for “ready” money although it is considering attracting smart investments. “We need more expertise in our market of tactical simulators. If investors appear who want to invest in us not only with money but also connections, networking and experience then we can consider this option” concludes Lavrenov.