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  • 6 hours ago
As the war in Ukraine reshapes their business, two young Moldovan innovators who used to produce civilian unmanned aerial vehicles are gearing up to build military drones at scale in neighboring Romania.
Transcript
00:00STOOD is a universal platform, which can be launched automatically.
00:05It is open and is open to the mission.
00:18In a military backpack, it can be used to 8 units in the form of the military.
00:25And it can be programmed?
00:27Of course, it can be programmed as a state unit or as a robot.
00:33Once extracted from the bag, it becomes active on the current mission.
00:38Anton Danic and Ion Mocanu are two young Moldovan entrepreneurs united by a shared passion, innovation.
00:45They met a few years ago in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, and decided to join forces to build civilian
00:51drones.
00:52A project that began in peacetime was both disrupted and accelerated by the war in neighbouring Ukraine.
00:58In May, they will start manufacturing drones at scale in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, a NATO and EU member
01:05state.
01:05This is what you can see here, on two levels.
01:08The drone deposit zone is here.
01:11There will be an explosion, because it needs to be out and to be out.
01:16We have an assembly camera.
01:18There will be an assembly of electronic, optical, and other things.
01:22The chemical area, the dead and the dry area.
01:25In collaboration with an American company,
01:27at least 100 surveillance drones will be produced at this factory every month,
01:31along with several thousand interceptor drones like the one Ion Mocanu showed DW in the field.
01:37The whole project of the factory is designed in order to be relocated in under 24 hours.
01:44In fact, I was thinking about a scenario,
01:46in the case where, if things have a turnaround in an unexpected direction,
01:50and we need to move to a safer place,
01:53we don't focus on buildings built and all that,
01:56and the factory can be relocated in 24 hours.
01:59After finishing school, Ion Mocanu moved to Romania,
02:03where he graduated from no less than three universities in Bucharest.
02:07He also completed an MBA,
02:09and is now working on his PhD on biomedical sensors.
02:13Before meeting Anton, he didn't know much about drones.
02:18I didn't know much about drones.
02:21I didn't know much about drones.
02:24With Anton, I was the first drone in the factory in Chișinău.
02:28We met in the community,
02:30we met in the community,
02:31in the community,
02:33and in this area,
02:35and in the discussion,
02:37we had to see that our expertise are complementary.
02:41Anton is in aeronave,
02:42I am in sensor, EI and on board.
02:46Anton's passion for aerial vehicles
02:47led him to study physics and engineering.
02:50He has a master's degree in both disciplines.
02:52I worked for a radio model
02:57since I was a little child.
02:58I believed that this passion
02:59could be shared with my citizens.
03:03I started the business
03:03from making a big contract
03:05with a manufacturer of equipment,
03:07and I brought something new to the market.
03:10Initially, their drones were used
03:12for filmmaking and video production,
03:13but when war broke out in Ukraine,
03:16everything changed.
03:17Now, they can meet the demands
03:18of any potential clients
03:20in the military sector.
03:21from the idea
03:22to the first race,
03:24we had 90 days,
03:25three months for the maximum
03:26to produce any drone.
03:27The client tells us
03:28how much he wants to stay in the air
03:29and how much he needs to be removed,
03:31and from the calculation
03:31we have an engine,
03:32a engine,
03:33a engine,
03:33and other things.
03:35As a business model,
03:37I worked recently
03:38as a design house,
03:40in which we made ideas
03:41and other prototypes.
03:42Since the people
03:44have been positioned
03:45in this field of defense.
03:48One of their key innovations
03:50on what is a highly competitive market
03:52is their drone assembly method.
03:54In fact,
03:58all our aircraft
03:59are assembled
04:00in the terrain
04:00without any school.
04:02They are modular,
04:03they can be transported
04:04with a car
04:05or even with a family car,
04:07even with an aircraft
04:08of 5-6 meters.
04:10There is a concept
04:12of cable salad
04:14that is in the industry
04:15when you open a car
04:18or try to assemble
04:19in the terrain
04:20and it is full of cables
04:21that need to be removed,
04:23which are stressful
04:25for the users,
04:27especially during
04:29operations
04:30with risk of acceleration.
04:33Their latest development
04:35is a multifunctional platform
04:36called Intern SP5.
04:38It can carry a load
04:39of up to 20 kg
04:40and fly continuously
04:42for 24 hours.
04:43These capabilities
04:45make it suitable
04:45for a wide range
04:46of missions
04:47from surveillance
04:48to combat.
04:51We can mount a radar,
04:53we can mount a CBRN sensor
04:54for an evaluation
04:56of the media
04:57of the radiation
04:58and bacterial
04:59radiation.
05:00So, the fact
05:01that we have 20 kg
05:02allows us to mount
05:03not one,
05:04but many sensors
05:05depending on the final destination.
05:07As Anton said,
05:08the beneficiary
05:08determines the mission
05:09of the proposed mission.
05:10Jan and Anton
05:11are two young,
05:12innovative entrepreneurs
05:13living in turbulent times
05:15who hope that
05:16the technology they create
05:17can help save lives,
05:19and help ensure
05:20greater security
05:21for future generations.
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