Digitalisation as a trend
Ukraine is forced to fight with limited resources, and it risks losing the war if it continues competing with Russia only in the number of weapons, money, and people. The only way to keep up the fight is to stop the "war of the great soviet army against the little one" and make the Defence Forces of Ukraine a truly efficient structure.
Today, optimising the management of troops, speeding up decision-making, relieving military personnel of unnecessary paperwork, and allowing commanders to access necessary information is an objective need of the Defence Forces. Ukraine makes efforts to achieve this goal through digitalisation.
Some software products created to simplify the work for servicepeople began to be integrated even before 2022. The most well-known among them is the situational awareness system Delta. It gathers intelligence data from many sources into a coherent picture of the battlefield, so that military commanders can see the exact whereabouts of the enemy and coordinate their actions accordingly.
Artillery operators use the Kropyva app and GIS Arta. French journalists
compared the latter to Uber, but instead of calling a cab the military give an order to destroy an enemy position, with the nearest artillery piece instead of a car. This has reduced the time spent waiting for artillery support to arrive to mere minutes.
The Air Force also has its own software for air defence. To ensure that air defence systems are set up in the right place at the right time, a special program has been created that follows the trajectory of Shahed drones and missiles night after night and helps identify patterns and direct mobile groups more efficiently.
A lot of new Western weapons are arriving in Ukraine, and teaching soldiers to use them is a separate challenge. In order not to waste ammunition on training, as it is still in short supply, several Ukrainian companies started developing
digital simulators. Visually and by touch, they are indistinguishable from real Stingers or Javelins, but target hits occur on a screen, making training dozens of times cheaper.
One of the most chaotic areas of war is logistics. Promptly meeting soldiers’ demands, replenishing and distributing warehouse stocks, and delivering food supplies and weapons to the combat zone in a timely manner despite the constantly changing situation has always been a big challenge. All these operations can drag on for weeks due to paperwork.
The optimisation of the logistics system in the Ukrainian forces is being assisted by the System Analysis Program Development (SAP), used in NATO countries. In Ukraine, the program began to be implemented after the full-scale Russian invasion. Three hundred military units have already been connected to the system. Now they can monitor free stocks of spare parts, weapons, food supplies, and so on, and order them promptly when a shortage occurs.
The Ministry of Defence claims that this program has
accelerated the of supply requests from combat teams to make it last several days instead of several weeks. The ultimate goal is to eliminate paper-based documentation in logistical operations.
ID Cards and Apps Instead of Papers
Document management in the army is also part of the problem. Registers of registers, endless lines to military registration and enlistment offices, and lines to attend military medical boards, the heap of documents and certificates one needs to have issued – all this undermines the credibility of the system and makes it really clumsy.
The problem began to be addressed after the introduction of the new mobilisation law. The Ministry of Defence developed the Reserv+ app, which allows data to be updated online in just a few minutes without queues. Within just a few days, 805,000 people took advantage of the app.
The Reserv+ app is just the beginning of the big process. In December, an electronic queue was launched in Ukraine for faster passage of medical boards. Previously, military personnel, including injured soldiers, could wait days for their turn to see a doctor to get the necessary conclusion or document. Today, they are provided an opportunity to schedule an appointment with specialists for a specific date and time.
In July, the launch of the
Army+ app is planned. It is similar to Diia, Ukraine's e-government platform, with a military ID card uploaded in electronic form. Its functions include the ability to submit electronic reports, which will simplify the entire process and improve feedback from commanders.
At the same time, the development of an ID card which includes all the documents of a soldier is underway. It will contain all the information of a soldier's military ID card, warrant card, travel order card, proof of enlistment, medical data, and so on.
It will look like an ID card with all the above information encrypted in a chip. Any relevant authority will be able to read information from this card with the help of a smartphone or tablet with NFC technology.
This technology will also be helpful in the combat zone. When a soldier is admitted to hospital, the doctors can quickly access all their medical information and provide appropriate care. It is important that reading data does not require Internet access, which is often unavailable on the contact line, as all information is stored in the chip's memory.
The US Army uses similar IDs, known as Military ID Cards. Introduced much earlier in the US Army, it is rather an outdated technology today. Ukrainian developers aim to modernise this technology and make the domestic military ID card more functional.
For example, this ID card will not only compile documents but also serve as an electronic signature, a key to restricted-access services like Delta, or simply a pass at a military unit turnstile.
Naturally, the value of a card with such features increases, so its security is a top priority. Ukrainian company AVTOR, which has been providing cryptographic protection solutions for over 20 years, is in charge of its development.
Access to important services will be protected by two-factor authentication, i.e. an additional password. If a soldier happens to be taken captive, they will be able to physically destroy their card and all the information it contains. Alternatively, it may be turned off remotely to mitigate the risks.
The card is based on an Infineon smart chip, which has a CC EAL 6+ security certificate. This level of protection is used in high-risk situations. The technology has also already received positive expert reviews regarding its security from the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine.
The digitalisation of document management in the structures of Ukraine's defence forces may be the beginning of similar changes in civilian life after the war. For instance, similar ID cards can be made for people with chronic illnesses to access medical services.
The war has already become a stimulus for progress in many areas of life, and the army is not the only highly bureaucratic structure that needs reforming. Next in line should be state administration, healthcare, and education.
