US officials impressed by Ukrainian ingenuity in using Western weapons - CNN

That's according to CNN, Ukrinform reports.

"This kind of Ukrainian ingenuity has impressed U.S. officials, who have praised Kyiv's ability to 'MacGyver' solutions to its battlefield needs that fill in important tactical gaps left by the larger, more sophisticated Western weaponry," the article reads.

"Their innovation is just incredibly impressive," said Seth Jones, director of the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

For the U.S. military, the war in Ukraine has been an incredible source of data on the utility of its own systems. Last fall, as Ukraine won back large swaths of territory in a series of counterattacks, it pounded Russian forces with American-made artillery and rockets. Guiding some of that artillery was a homemade targeting system that Ukraine developed on the battlefield. A piece of Ukrainian-made software has turned readily available tablet computers and smartphones into sophisticated targeting tools that are now used widely across the Ukrainian military.

The result is a mobile app that feeds satellite and other intelligence imagery into a real-time targeting algorithm that helps units near the front direct fire onto specific targets. And because it’s an app, not a piece of hardware, it's easy to quickly update and upgrade, and available to a wide range of personnel. U.S. officials familiar with the tool say it has been highly effective at directing Ukrainian artillery fire onto Russian targets.

The targeting app is among dozens of examples of battlefield innovations that Ukraine has come up with over nearly a year of war, often finding cheap fixes to expensive problems.

Small, plastic drones, buzzing quietly overhead, drop grenades and other ordinance on Russian troops. 3D printers now make spare parts so soldiers can repair heavy equipment in the field. Technicians have converted ordinary pickup trucks into mobile missile launchers. Engineers have figured out how to strap sophisticated US missiles onto older Soviet fighter jets such as the MiG-29, helping keep the Ukrainian air force flying after nine months of war.