Foil, a bicycle clamp, a fishing net, and an ordinary nut—things that are not usually associated with military technology. However, during wartime, they can acquire a new purpose: helping test equipment, setting up positions, or addressing certain engineering needs. UNN discussed with military experts how completely ordinary household items have become one of the features of modern warfare.
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There are things whose purpose seems so obvious that it is difficult to imagine them in another role. Aluminum foil is for baking meat or fish, a fishing net is for fishing, and nuts are for repairs or construction. However, war changes this logic. In a military environment, an item is assessed not so much by what it was created for as by what else can be done with it. In this way, ordinary household items acquire a new purpose—from engineering fortification to use in military development.
Nuts, screws, and bolts for military development
Anton Zemlianyi, a senior analyst at the Ukrainian Center for Security and Cooperation, notes that there are actually many examples of ordinary household items being used by the military.
These include ordinary nuts, screws, bolts, and various metal structures, which can be used to equip positions, construct engineering facilities, or in various military developments. An interesting example is fishing nets. Some Northern European countries send Ukraine used fishing nets that are no longer relevant to them. In Ukraine, they can be put to an entirely different use—in particular, for engineering protection and camouflage
According to him, if we look at the issue more broadly, even civilian radio-controlled models were once used for military purposes.
Before the emergence of large ground-based robotic complexes, there were much simpler mechanisms—essentially small remotely controlled machines—that made it possible to perform certain tasks without a person being directly present. Today, ground-based robotic systems can already be used for evacuation, transporting equipment, and carrying out other tasks
Batteries, cells, and small electronics in the military
The list of ordinary items used in military technology is not limited to nuts, screws, and bolts. Particularly many examples of ordinary items being used by the military are related to electronics.
Military expert Mykhailo Zhyrokhov draws attention to this.
Most of the electronics supplied, for example, from China, effectively have a dual purpose. We can talk about rechargeable batteries and batteries—this is probably the most obvious example. The same applies to small electronic components that can be purchased in ordinary stores, including "Aurora," and which could potentially be used for military purposes. However, it is important to understand that the scale is entirely different. If we are talking about the serial production of military equipment, ordinary consumer goods cannot fully replace specialized components
In other words, this does not mean that the defense industry can simply replace all specialized parts with products from the nearest store. It means that available civilian components can meet specific needs where a specialized solution is more complicated, more expensive, or unavailable in the required quantity.
How to use foil in the military
However, sometimes the issue is not only finding an available part for repairs or setting up positions, but also military testing.
Sometimes such adaptation can look particularly unexpected. Anatolii Khrapchynskyi, a defense industry expert and head of a weapons manufacturing company, says that ordinary foil is used to test aerial targets.
For testing aerial targets, for example, and increasing the effective scattering area on our radars, I use food foil or metal plates, attaching them to a drone. Accordingly, the effective scattering area increases, and we can test how the radars operate
According to him, rapid adaptation makes it possible to solve certain problems.
If you look at how much an aviation-grade loop certified to all aviation standards costs, its price starts at £70. So this is also a question of adapting capabilities that allow us to use inexpensive tools to create our own solutions. For example, we used bicycle clamps to attach antennas. In other words, an ordinary bicycle clamp can be used to attach an antenna. There are actually many solutions. The issue is ensuring that equipment is quickly supplied with tools that are available in large quantities. And this is the main problem. Some equipment that can be certified and tested may simply be unavailable in large volumes
The democratization of technology
This is precisely where it becomes clear why availability is sometimes no less important than technological sophistication. If it is difficult to quickly find or order a specialized component in large quantities, an engineer begins looking for an alternative among what is already available on the market. In this sense, an ordinary hardware store, automotive accessories shop, or home-goods store may turn out to be a kind of "catalogue" of potential engineering solutions.
If we are talking about what we can potentially find in an ordinary store such as "Epicentr," it is important to understand that technology is being democratized. Once, powerful computers were needed to calculate a rocket's ballistics or launch a satellite into orbit, and only certain state-owned enterprises, government agencies, or large companies had them. The same thing is now happening with many technologies. FPV drones initially appeared exclusively as a means of entertainment and for air racing. But we turned them into carriers and means of striking targets, and accordingly they became weapons. Therefore, many things we see in everyday life can acquire an entirely different application. From an ordinary loop to a bicycle clamp for attaching an antenna
Expert Anton Zemlianyi added that virtually any civilian product that can be purchased in an ordinary store or on a marketplace could potentially find some military application. However, this does not mean that every such item automatically becomes military technology.
War forces people to look for unconventional solutions using what is available. If we enter a hypothetical "Epicentr" together, we can see a huge number of things that could be useful to the military. These include wires, tools, various materials for equipping positions, and means for constructing fortifications. But it is important to understand that such solutions often arise not because circumstances are favorable. To some extent, this is forced "cottage" or, to put it more mildly, nonstandard production that makes it possible to address specific local needs. At the same time, I would not view this approach exclusively negatively. If some simple civilian component makes it possible to solve a specific military task, it can be a perfectly effective solution. Especially if it is inexpensive, available, and does not require complex logistics
The path from an everyday item to a military solution can be short: identify a property, find a new application, check whether it works, and scale it up if the solution proves effective. It is precisely the ability to move along this path quickly that becomes an important advantage in war.
War forces us to use what is at hand, combine civilian technologies and materials, and look for the simplest possible solutions to specific military needs. And this is precisely where the ingenuity of Ukrainian engineers and developers manifests itself, to a certain extent
Nuts, foil, and fishing nets are not military technologies in themselves. But in the hands of engineers, they can acquire a new purpose and become part of a solution, especially when speed, availability, and the ability to accomplish a specific task are important.