Marine vet says Ukrainian repair culture fuels battlefield innovation

Businessinsider: Troy Smothers, a US Marine veteran who trained Ukrainian infantry in Odesa in 2005, said Ukrainians' ability to repair and improvise ageing equipment has been central to their combat success.

Smothers, who now runs the nonprofit American Made Freedom and has worked since 2022 to help Ukrainian troops develop fiber-optic, unjammable drones, said he saw underfunded, Soviet-era gear during his 2005 deployment — leaking hydraulics in helicopters and a reliance on old systems. He described a repair culture born of necessity and low wages, where people routinely open and fix electronics and convert hobby drones into battlefield tools.

He gave a specific example: a simple "mustache" trigger for first-person-view drones made of two copper wires and a 3D-printed safety pin that he said costs about $12–$15, compared with $400–$500 for a similar US item. Smothers said he now spends months at a time in Ukraine testing fiber-optic spool designs with drone manufacturers and that those designs are being used on the battlefield today.

Key Topics

World, Troy Smothers, American Made Freedom, Ukraine, Odesa, Fiber-optic Drones