Ukraine's Defence Ministry dismisses Utiushev, head of key digital weapon development
The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine on 12 February issued an order dismissing Marat Utiushev from his position as head of the Centre for Innovation and Defence Technology Development.
Source: Utiushev on Facebook on 13 February
Details: The main development by Utiushev and the Centre is the DELTA system, which allows military personnel to view the battlefield in real time and plan operations.
Utiushev said that DELTA has rapidly evolved in recent years, integrating NATO standards. The system has won first place in various NATO exercises and conferences.
Quote: "DELTA became a key digital tool in the early months of the full-scale war brought on by the Russians. It was used to defend Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson and Zmiinyi (Snake) Island, during the sinking of the Moskva cruiser and in the destruction of Russian ships in the Black Sea. In 2024 alone, the number of users increased fourfold, and DELTA has become as widely known as Excel – everyone knows it, and many use it."
He also mentioned that the Innovation Centre has been working on several successful projects, including the artificial intelligence platform Avengers for detecting military equipment and the UA DRONE ID protocol for integrating drones into combat systems, since 2022.
Sources from Forbes Ukraine say that Defence Minister Umierov's decision may be connected to the appointment of Valerii Churkin as his deputy on 7 February. Churkin, in his new role, is responsible for overseeing the development of defence innovations.
Quote from a source: "Perhaps their visions for DELTA's development don't align."
However, Churkin has not expressed any open dissatisfaction with Utiushev.
Background:
Ukraine's Defence Forces automatically detect 12,000 items of Russian equipment every week using the artificial intelligence platform Avengers, developed by the Ministry of Defence's Innovation Centre.
The AI platform enables operators to make faster and more effective decisions while also reducing the risk of errors caused by fatigue. This integration is already successfully implemented in the VEZHA streaming module of the DELTA combat system.
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