Ukraine's drone commander slams Rheinmetall CEO over his dismissive 'housewives' comment

His comment comes after Papperger's remark that Ukrainian drones are allegedly created by "housewives with 3D printers," and overall they are not a technological breakthrough, comparing their production to "playing with Lego" and emphasizing that it is "not the technology of Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, or Rheinmetall."

Brovdi reacted sharply to Papperger's words, stating on his Facebook that Ukrainian drones have revolutionized warfare.

"You are right, Mr. Armin Papperger, even if it is a cry from the soul," he wrote.

"The freedom-loving Ukrainian Bird is not an innovation; it is a revolution in warfare. A competition of firmware and frequencies. And yes, it hurts the industrialists, because there is a democratization of high-precision weapons using 'kitchen stuff'."

The Ukrainian model of drone production is a flexible and scalable "ecosystem," whereas large enterprises cannot replicate this, he stressed.

"Among other things, it is a 'cloud' factory that cannot be stopped by smashing it with a missile or drones, like Ust-Luga," Madyar wrote.

"Speed of iterations is measured in Machs. The gigantism of the dinosaurs that ruled the planet did not save them. A new doctrine, a modern war. Can you do that?" 

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted to the words of German defense concern Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger about "Ukrainian drones made by housewives" on March 30.

"It sounds strange. If every housewife in Ukraine can really produce drones, then every housewife in Ukraine can also be the CEO of Rheinmetall. And I congratulate our Ukrainian military-industrial complex on this high level," he said.

Papperger's statement about Ukrainian drones was published in an article in The Atlantic on March 27.

Journalist Simon Shuster inquired about the effectiveness of Ukrainian drones used to destroy heavy armored vehicles, which form the basis of Papperger's business.

"It's just playing with Lego. What is the innovation from Ukraine here? No technological breakthrough. They create innovations with their little drones, and they say, 'Wow!' — and that's great. Well, good. But this is not the technology of Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, or Rheinmetall," he said.

The journalist noted that Ukraine produces more drones than any other democratic country and cited the examples of Fire Point and Skyfall. Later, when he asked how this might affect Rheinmetall's business model, Papperger became indignant.

"These are Ukrainian housewives," Rheinmetall CEO replied.

"They have 3D printers in their kitchens, and they produce drone parts. This is not innovation."

Rheinmetall declared its respect for Ukraine on March 29. The concern noted that Ukraine's special merit is that it fights very effectively even with limited resources.