Defense Tech Hackathon on the USS Hornet: New Solutions for Ukraine

On November 23-24, 2024, the iconic USS Hornet aircraft carrier in California hosted the Defense Tech Hackathon.

A unique event to address pressing national defense challenges and support Ukraine in its fight for freedom. Militarnyi reported about this.

Participants worked on tasks formulated based on requests from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, ensuring the practical value of the developments.

The event was organized by leading industry representatives, including Victoria Tech, co-founded by Ukrainian entrepreneurs Nazar Gulyk and Artur Kiulian.

Defense Tech Hackathon united key players from the technological and defense sectors: Centre of Innovations and Defence Technologies Development of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, Brave1 cluster, Naval Special Warfare, MIT Lincoln Labs, Ukraine MoD, Anduril, Palantir, Former/Active SOF personnel, and U.S. Defense VCs.

Over 700 participants, including 400+ hackers, 50+ investors, founders, and military leaders worked together in real time aboard an USS Hornet aircraft carrier to tackle critical national security challenges with next-level solutions. The teams developed innovative solutions for the most urgent defense and national security issues, particularly those affecting Ukraine.

Notably, tasks were proposed in the following areas:

• Autonomy & Counter-UAS: GNSS-denied navigation, drone swarms, and fiber-optic countermeasures.
• Communications: Radio signal denoising and spectrum sharing.
• Intelligence: AI-powered decision tools and real-time UAS detection.

At the end of the two-day event, 37 teams presented their projects, with 11 finalists chosen by the jury, followed by the announcement of the winners. The top teams shared cash prizes and awards, including Starlink kits from UkraineNow.org and a special prize from Victoria Tech.

“This was one of the most important events I’ve ever organized, — says Nazar Gulyk, Victoria Tech and Empat co-founder — Through the hackathon, we gained 37 impressive projects, the implementation of which will help solve real defense challenges in Ukraine. Most importantly, we engaged 400 of Silicon Valley’s top engineers to work on Ukrainian issues. We made our challenges visible to them, brought them closer to our reality. And perhaps, after this, some of them will join Ukraine’s Defense Tech sector”.

“Many American engineers lack context about the Ukraine war, while Ukrainian stakeholders often don’t grasp Silicon Valley’s technological potential, — commented Artur Kiulian. — We aim to bridge this gap, connecting defense ecosystems and fostering understanding between communities. This spans from AI-driven analysis of war lessons to semiconductor innovations that enable on-the edge processing in the battlefield”.

The Defense Tech Hackathon in the heart of Silicon Valley captured the attention of top engineers, focusing them on the challenges of the war in Ukraine and engaging them in finding solutions.

Bringing together the brightest minds in the world, cutting-edge technologies, and pressing issues from Ukraine’s battlefield is an exceptional achievement that opens new opportunities for our country.

Victoria Tech is a defense venture studio bridging defense tech ecosystem around the world. The company focuses on creating innovative IT products and technological services that support military and strategic operations.