Exploring Incora's Team Active Role in Volunteering and Social Initiatives

As well as probably any other Ukrainian company, Incora actively participated in volunteering from the first days of the russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At first, we mainly helped with urgent needs and tried to take care of fundraising by ourselves. Apart from that, we also took part in manual processes like netting or making special trench candles. Some of our members also become soldiers, which makes our team very proud.

Afterward, our CEO and CTO decided, that it was time to go big and to achieve better results. To do so, they had to create a fund Incora for Ukraine, which would give our team more freedom when it came to helping the Army. As a result, while some routine and less complex tasks like creating trench candles are usually organized and done by the team, work, that requires more official and bureaucratic approaches is handled by company management.

The times are changing, and so as the requests. If at the very beginning, our soldiers required some basic stuff like bulletproof vests, or helmets, now they need new technological solutions. This is why we would like to tell you about one of our last fundraising initiatives.

Where It All Started?

This year we celebrated Incora’s 8th anniversary of the foundation.

During the celebration, we also held an auction to raise money and help UAF. In terms of this anniversary party, we had a lecture from a few military instructors, who displayed and explained everything about modern rocket launchers and the challenges they bring to our soldiers.

Most of our team members actively participated in an auction, not only as “players”, but also decided to represent a part of their hobbies, putting up for sale something valuable for themselves. Some brought handmade embroidery, some - their favorite books, etc. Eventually, there were even lots, that proposed group trips to different places in the Ukrainian Carpathians with lectures on local nature.

Auction, Lecture, and Fund

Thanks to this lecture from three different instructors with very personal and specific experiences, we learned the difference between different systems, which are better and why.

Yet, apart from the benefits of various rocket launchers, we also learned the harsh truth about how hard it may be to use a new weapon with no previous experience and training with such systems. Commonly ukrainian soldiers have only text instructions on how to use it and rare possibility to google for more information.

Despite the variety of weapons, transferred to Ukraine from the Allies, Ukrainian soldiers don’t always get a chance to test their skills in working with new equipment during the training. This can cause several possible issues during the in-field exploitation. For instance, NLAW, as well as any other modern rocket launcher, has a very strict usage pattern. Thus, if you will miss even a single step, it might result in a breakdown.

Additionally, it is worth mentioning the importance of training on the gun ranges or elsewhere to improve aiming and shooting from different types of weapons, to get to know them, etc. This is why rocket launcher emulators and simulators emerged.

As soon as we heard that we could somehow help with training, we decided to take an active part. To do so, we contacted Dmytro Horishnyi, a Ukrainian enthusiast, who created the first-ever handmade Javelin missile simulator for UAF training. Communication with Dmytro was also very informative. For instance, we learned that:

• Despite it seems easy and primitive at first, in reality, creating a high-quality simulator is a complex task, which can take years to create.
• In some cases, it is better to support a professional team of software engineers, rather than trying to get into a new industry having zero background experience. Especially, when it comes to such important fields, where human lives are at stake.
• The development of technologies, that help to improve and train new skills is a top priority at all times.

Why We Decided to Support Software Development?

It is an obvious question, that is probably the first one, that comes to mind.

Frankly speaking, there are many reasons why we don’t take part in the development itself.

The most essential one - rocket launchers are based on a different tech stack, which is more related to the game dev industry, rather than those, we are experienced in.

For instance, apart from the need to create a virtual 3D environment, it is also essential to measure and create behavior patterns and physics. Measurements of rocket behavior are the first-ever step in creating such simulators.

Eventually, the Military Tech industry is evolving in Ukraine, which is great news. Unfortunately, our software engineers are niche-experienced and are more useful in other industries like Healthcare, FinTech, etc. Therefore, we are always happy to support such promising software projects, yet for now, it is better to do it remotely.

Why Do We Need These Simulators?

To answer this question we had to get in touch with our contact officer.

As Mr. Roman said they decided to gather as many simulators as possible. The variety of weapon systems from our Allies, as well as their quantity, is unpredictable each time, so it is hard to be sure, that a particular group of soldiers will always deal with the same launchers.

In reality, receiving a new and unexplored weapon is a common thing on the frontline. They are accompanied by the instructions and it is also possible to google the manual. However, it won’t give the same experience as real shooting or simulation training.

Thus, to boost the experience of soldiers, give them at least some experience in working with different types of systems, and potentially increase the success rate of using new technologies.

What Is So Special About Javelin Simulator?

Apart from the fact, that it is a great alternative to spending taxpayer's money, it is also a great alternative solution for other similar technologies from abroad.

Besides, unlike many other Javelin missile launcher simulators, this particular one is fully autonomous, i.e. it can be transported to any required place for training. At the same time, most Western variations are more limited when it comes to the mobility of the system: they commonly have at least basic requirements like the possibility to plug into an outlet, etc.

What’s Next?

Apart from occasionally helping with the financial support of UFA, or taking part in short-term projects like the development of a Javelin simulator, we are trying to create a long-term perspective on the support of the Ukrainian nation in fighting pure evil.

For instance, at the moment we are participating in the completion of the FPV drone training facility because we already noticed how efficient and useful they are in terms of saving the lives of our soldiers and helping them defend Ukrainian land.

This is by far not the only initiative we are going to take part in, yet let’s consider it as a little spoiler of our plans.