Kyiv startup builds pocket-sized device to intercept Russian drone video
Kyiv equipment startup CODE380 has developed a small receiver, the D·Vision SDR, that lets Ukrainian units see live camera feeds from Russian drones. It also covers frequencies that Russia's newer Molniya drones began using in June.
Ukrainian drone teams have a new tool for watching the Russian drones that watch them. CODE380, an equipment startup based in Kyiv, has been drawing attention for a pocket-sized receiver, the D·Vision SDR, which picks up live video from many Russian drones and displays it on a screen. The device matters in the war in Ukraine because it can show where a drone is heading in time to react.
How the device works
Russian drones send their camera video over the air without scrambling, so anyone with a suitable receiver can view it. A Ukrainian unit can therefore see where a drone is going and what its pilot is aiming at before the drone strikes.
Weight and frequencies
According to Defense News, the device weighs about 10 ounces (roughly 280 grams), less than half the weight of competing Ukrainian models, one of which weighs a couple of pounds. It also listens on the radio channels that Russia's newer Molniya drones began using for video in June.
Serhii “Flash” Beskrestnov, a radio specialist who advises Ukraine's president, said in a June Facebook post cited by Defense News that “most detectors don't see these frequencies, or see them poorly.” He warned that placing too much trust in a detector could prove fatal.
Possible limits
Beskrestnov has also cautioned that digital video could one day replace analog, which would blind receivers of this kind. The New York Times reported in August that some Molniya drones are guided by AI, use Nvidia chips and emit no signals.
