German arms maker Rheinmetall has come under heavy criticism in Ukraine after CEO Armin Papperger dismissed the country's indigenous drone innovation and referred to major Ukrainian drone manufacturers as "Ukrainian housewives" who "have 3D printers in the kitchen and produce parts for drones."
Under the hashtag #MadeByHousewives, social media users called out the CEO's comments and expressed solidarity with Ukrainian women and the country's defiant spirit in fighting a four-year war against Russia.
X/@alive_lena
Pictures of Ukrainian women assembling drones, along with AI animations, flooded online as users lauded Kyiv's low-cost "LEGO" drones and educated Papperger on how these cheap drones accounted for 90 per cent of all combat losses of the Russian army—more than all other types of weapons combined.
Many people said that, in a cost-benefit analysis, Ukraine's cheap but mass-manufactured drones will trump modern warfare weapons, something Europe's defence manufacturers are yet to understand.
According to a post on X, Oleksandr Yakovenko, the founder of TAF Industries, taking cognisance of Papperger's comments, said the cost-effectiveness ratio has been turned upside down: one 120mm Rheinmetall shell or one anti-tank missile costs more than a dozen of our drones—yet our drones still prevail.
A user said, "A Patriot missile costs four million dollars. A Ukrainian Sting interceptor drone costs two thousand. Both destroy the same Shahed kamikaze drone. One of them can be manufactured at a rate of 10,000 units per month. The other cannot."
Others also pointed out the success of Ukraine's drone manufacturing capabilities after President Volodymyr Zelensky signed several deals with Gulf states amid the US-Israel war on Iran. Many also posted videos of how a $2,000 drone kills a Shahed at 300 km/h.
One user chose to make an AI-based variation of the hit American TV show Desperate Housewives, where several women, instead of holding cocktails, laundry baskets, or garden shears, are wearing FPV (First-Person View) goggles and holding military drones. They are still wearing the iconic, glamorous red dresses from the original show's branding, but now have Ukrainian military patches pinned to their shoulders.
X/@ALBK
Another user posted an AI image of a woman in Wonder Woman's costume, but the traditional red, white, and gold, typically associated with American superhero symbolism, was replaced with yellow and blue, the national colours of Ukraine. The picture shows the Ukrainian "superhero" taking care of a baby while holding drones.
Papperger said Rheinmetall plans to continue producing heavy weaponry, including tanks and artillery, despite the increasing battlefield prevalence of cheap drones that can destroy them.
Rheinmetall—which has set up a joint venture with Ukraine—said on Sunday that the company has the "utmost respect for the Ukrainian people's immense efforts in defending themselves."
