The Russian Federation has submitted hundreds of patents to drones and Ukraine - units: how the arms race is moving

The war in Ukraine has filed the development of unmanned technologies around the world. Russia is now in the top five, although most applications have been submitted by China and the United States. The data of the World Intellectual Property (WIPO) showed that the number of patents submitted for drone technologies increased by 16% from 2022 to 2023, and a large proportion was in Russia. Experts say this is due to increased use in the battlefield in Ukraine, reports The Independent.

The number of patents associated with drones in 2022 was 16 800, and in 2023-already 19 700. According to WIPO, China, Russia and the United States are part of the first five countries that are actively developing UAVs for UAV for the needs of the military. The Russian Federation submitted 342 patents from 2022 to 2024, that is, after the start of a full -scale invasion. Ukraine has only submitted only 4 patents over the same period.

Up to 82% of all world's drones, submitted since 2015, belong to Chinese companies. Marseille Plichta, a former US Department of Defense Analyst, told The Independent that the struggle for patents marks a new global arms race for a new type of war. According to him, this differs from the more traditional tanks and rifles arms, and is more stimulated by the technological sector - especially in Ukraine and Russia, where this type of technology is being developed to avoid war on exhaustion.

"This is not necessarily a technological revolution - it is simply a case of the use of drone technology in the war to gain benefits in the battlefield," he explained. In 2023, 87% of all applications came from China. The report states that the Chinese manufacturer of drones DJI, whose technologies are often used in the battlefield of Ukraine, was the most frequent patent feeder for drones.

The United States is inferior to China and are considered the second largest patent of unmanned technology: they submitted 858 patents in 2023 and 5631 since 2015. Andrew White from Mathys & Squire Intellectual Property Law firm said that military use is currently a considerable part of the drone studies and development. "We see more investments in the development of UAVs by defense enterprises, as governments are aware that they are involved in a literal arms race in this field," he emphasized.

According to Plichta, the US military is now increasingly interested in drone technologies, but they are afraid of market rejuvenation with Chinese products. "Drones produced in the United States are more expensive and available in smaller quantities than Chinese, so there is no real alternative to them now. But it is possible that we will see how the US, Ukraine and European countries will invest in largely in them over the next five years" , He summed up.