Any innovation in military technology always ushers in changes to the conduct of warfare. This is true from the bow and arrow, through the introduction of the horses to tanks and aircraft. War always evolves and the newest technological niche that is quickly becoming a bubbling market is that of drone technology. Concurrently, the military drone segment is evaluated between 13-15 billion dollars as of 2023 by differing market research companies.
Drones are becoming a mandatory element in a country's military arsenal, as evidenced by the war in Ukraine. At the last exhibition of military technology "Hemus" in Plovdiv, an entire exhibition building was fully dedicated to models prepared by Bulgarian universities, importers and international giants in the military industry, so much so that exhibits had to be stationed outside as well. This also explains the focus of Samokov's Samel-90, which also presented its drones for direct strikes and long-term surveillance.
The first of them, the Samjet, is already ready for the market and has a primarily military application, but can be adapted for other reconnaissance or urgent supply missions in hard to reach areas. The other is still in its developmental stage and is a solution oriented more towards intelligence, naval and civilian needs. Although there are no sales yet, according to the majority owner and executive director of the company, Petar Georgiev, there is interest, and he identifies countries from the Middle East, Asia and parts of Africa as the main potential markets for both products.
Two in the chamber
The development of the Samel-90 military drone, which is also dubbed a kamikadze (or suicide) drone, began approximately two years ago and was done in partnership with Switzerland's Alidrone, which has expertise in the development of similar technology. The investment is a little over 3 million levs, and according to Georgiev, over 90% of all components are manufactured at the factory in Samokov. At the moment, the company has the capacity to produce about 100 drones per month, and at this stage they do not plan to expand their production capacity, but "that depends on the market" as Georgiev puts it.
Samjet is an aircraft that can carry a load of up to 5 kg with an optimal precision remote control distance of up to 40 km and a maximum range of 100 km. The motor is electric with a maximum speed of 200 km/h and a flight duration of about 1 hour.
The design of the drone and its purpose often lead to comparisons with the Iranian Shahed. "To tell you the truth, I haven't even seen the Iranian one. I know about it, but I wouldn't say we have anything in common. Our advantage is that we allow precise control tens of kilometers away, and at 40 km you can get it into the kitchen of an apartment on the sixth floor, for example. Whereas the Iranian one only has a GPS location and does not allow such precision targeting," explains Georgiev.
Another difference he points out between the two models is that the Bulgarian drone can be equipped for other purposes such as reconnaissance tasks and delivery of critical cargo for the front or disaster-stricken areas. Thus, according to Georgiev, Samjet could be used to protect and monitor the border, as well as to collect information in the event of natural disasters.
The second drone, which is under development, has an internal combustion engine, the technology of which allows it to take off vertically and be active in the air for up to 8 hours. "The technology here is yet to be fully developed as all our focus was directed towards the Samjet model up until now. However, there is already interest in it from one side of Africa," commented Georgiev. According to him, this model has more applications in the civil and naval sectors and is more suitable for long-term surveillance of certain areas because of its ability to stay in one place at a high altitude. It also has a larger load capacity of 15 kg, which the company's team is looking to increase.
A new strategy
The catalyst for Samel-90's decision to move into drone development was the war in Ukraine, although Georgiev says he has no interest in selling the device for direct front-line use.
"Modern warfare no longer has anything to do with the military actions that were conducted years ago. Long-held ideas about what exactly is important and necessary as equipment on the front have changed significantly. Along with the war in Ukraine, a boom, an evolution of military thinking has been created in terms of strategy, defense, etc. Gone are those big, heavy and expensive techniques, like tanks, for example. They still have their uses, but it's clear that the focus is shifting to a much faster and more efficient method of war. This amendment makes us think in this direction as well. Not that we are the first, but we have a very high-quality product," commented Georgiev.
The development of drone technology can be said, to some extent, not to be completely foreign to Samel-90. In the last few years, one of the company's best-selling products is the drone jammer, which can be worn on the back like a backpack and intercepts all drones within a 5 km range, either landing them or sending them back to their original source. According to Georgiev, this gives Samjet another advantage over other products on the market as they can be continuously updated to be on par or better than existing drone jamming devices as well as to be equipped with them to create a vast net of highly mobile anti-drone protection.
For the development of this and its other products, "Samel-90" does not have a permanent development team. "Our development team is not large. For something like this, you need constant orders and a clear strategy and partnerships - first of all with the local army, but there have never been any. That's why we use a hybrid strategy. We have partners all over the world who complement where we don't have the capacity or capability in, say, an IT solution. It gives us more flexibility. As a company, we can't afford to have a super-large development team that has periods in which they do nothing," commented Georgiev.
Unmanned aerial vehicles will continue to be the focus of Samel-90 in the coming years. The company is also considering the development of a drone for water surfaces.
Like most manufacturers of military products, in 2022 "Samel-90" recorded its highest revenues for nearly 20 years, amounting to 55.3 million levs. According to Georgiev, the results for 2023 are similar. Currently, the company employs about 380 people.
Any innovation in military technology always ushers in changes to the conduct of warfare. This is true from the bow and arrow, through the introduction of the horses to tanks and aircraft. War always evolves and the newest technological niche that is quickly becoming a bubbling market is that of drone technology. Concurrently, the military drone segment is evaluated between 13-15 billion dollars as of 2023 by differing market research companies.
Drones are becoming a mandatory element in a country's military arsenal, as evidenced by the war in Ukraine. At the last exhibition of military technology "Hemus" in Plovdiv, an entire exhibition building was fully dedicated to models prepared by Bulgarian universities, importers and international giants in the military industry, so much so that exhibits had to be stationed outside as well. This also explains the focus of Samokov's Samel-90, which also presented its drones for direct strikes and long-term surveillance.
