eRaketa — an auxiliary component of air defense

During the full-scale war, there were constant reports of flybys of dangerous objects from citizens who wanted to inform the military. However, by the time the information reached the relevant services, valuable time was lost, and it became irrelevant.

Stfalcon, a company with previous successful experience in developing an application that saved the lives of Ukrainians by providing information about air danger, decided to create a new service. This service allows users who have heard or witnessed the flight of a missile or drone to notify the air defense forces promptly, enabling a swift response.

Although our country spends a lot of resources on identifying and destroying dangerous objects, it is a very difficult task, especially when they fly at a low altitude. The lower an object flies, the harder it is for the radar to detect it. This is because our planet is not flat, and radio waves propagate in a straight line. Consequently, at a certain distance from the antenna, the curvature of the earth will prevent the target from being "seen."

On the other hand, the flight of rockets or drones at low altitudes is visible and audible to ordinary citizens. We have decided not to encourage users to risk their lives by observing the movement of dangerous objects. Instead, we believe it is sufficient to transmit the coordinates of the point where the threat passed. Using the messages received from users, the service constructs a trajectory and transmits it to the air defense forces.

To enhance the usability of the service, we have included a convenient tutorial in the application. Additionally, to minimize the number of unscrupulous users who might report false targets to the air defense forces, we have implemented authorization through Apple and Google accounts.

The mobile application development was carried out by the principles of clean architecture. The presentation modules are built on the MVVM architecture, while all business logic is separated within the domain module.

To rapidly build the UI in the iOS app, we utilized the new yet proven SwiftUI framework. Furthermore, we employed the Combine framework to handle asynchronous requests.

One particular challenge we encountered was the product release. The Apple Store, as a digital distribution platform, meticulously scrutinizes apps that involve the use of user's data, including location information. Therefore, we had to provide detailed descriptions of the purposes for which we require this data, address clarifying questions from platform representatives, and obtain support from the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. They provided us with relevant documents certifying our cooperation with them.

So, the project's first component is the application itself, which was discussed above. The project's second component is acoustic sensors for detecting the direction of flight of missiles and UAV Shahed, as mentioned by the Commander-in-Chief of the US Air Force in Europe, General James Hecker, in the American media below.