May 11, 2022
Tractor manufacturer John Deere has deactivated tractors stolen by Russian troops in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Melitopol.
The tractor used the Connected Support Program, a strategy that many believed was put in place to prevent tractor owners from repairing their tractors to stop the theft by Russian troops.
The manufacturer was able to deactivate the units with a remote locking function that has a GPS receiver. The GPS receiver allows the user to know his location at any time. The system also has a software that allows the user to remotely correct mechanical faults, just like a computer.
In addition to tractors, Russian troops also stole grain and harvesting machinery that they sent to Chechnya.
According to the anonymous CNN source, the Russian soldiers are looking for a way to reactivate the equipment so that they can use it. If they cannot reactivate it, they could end up selling the machine as spare parts.
The war in Ukraine is contributing to the shortage of maize, which Ukraine is known to produce in large quantities. Ukraine is the fourth largest exporter of maize in the world, with annual sales of over 44 million tonnes in recent years.
The sources for this piece include an article in Entrepreneur.
