The Ukrainian team 1ms has developed new models of portable electric telescopic masts "Smart mast" to provide communication of reconnaissance drones and FPV drones on the front line. The team presented two products with a height of 4 and 8 meters at the Brave1 Defense Tech Valley 2025 exhibition.
The portable masts were developed taking into account requests from the military, who noted that it would take about 40 minutes to deploy old analogues of devices for communication and signal relay, which is difficult to implement in conditions of constant shelling.
The team spent about 18 months developing the new device. Thanks to the sophisticated design of the electric drive, telescopic guides, and folding support legs, the mast deployment time is from one to two minutes, depending on the modification.
When developing the "Smart mast" design, they focused on ensuring mobility when carrying and deploying the system. One soldier can carry the mast on his shoulders and independently deploy the communication equipment. The weight of the 4-meter mast is 13 kg, and the 6-meter mast is 19 kg. The company is also completing the development of a 12-meter mast, which will weigh 24 kg.
"These masts are used for many tasks. They can raise repeaters to transmit a signal between the operator and the drone. They can raise an antenna to control an FPV drone or an interceptor drone. If we talk about civilian use, then equipment for lighting the area or surveillance cameras can be installed on the masts," the system developer Volodymyr tells Defense.
To ensure communication, the masts are equipped with a tilt-and-turn mechanism that directs the antenna in the direction of the drone. Over time, the mechanism will be equipped with automatic tracking, which will automatically adjust the direction of the antenna.
"We have already had a request to put similar systems on a ground robotic complex in order to deploy them on the front line and conduct surveillance in hot spots. They can be installed on pickup trucks or other automotive equipment," emphasizes Volodymyr.
The production uses mainly Ukrainian components. Only some bearing variants and rolled metal are of foreign origin. In production, most elements are ground, cut or printed independently on their own machines.
The masts have already been tested at the front. They were used by one of the UAV control centers, as well as a unit in the Kharkiv region. However, based on the experience of using the masts, they are being finalized before the launch of mass production, which is planned for the second half of autumn.
Initially, the company's production capacity will be 20 8-meter masts per month. But it is already planned to increase the volume to 50 products per month. The cost of one product will be about 160 thousand UAH.
The team applied for a Brave1 grant and received expert support to modernize their own product and codify it before launching mass production.