Ukraine is currently capable of manufacturing 67 models of domestically produced drones that have passed the approval procedures. There were only seven in 2022.

Source: Ministry of Digital Transformation

Details: There are now 200 companies registered in Ukraine that are involved in UAV production. The influx of funds into the industry and the simplification of regulations have enabled them to ramp up the total domestic drone production capacity by 100 times compared to the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation told Ekonomichna Pravda that this refers to the potential Ukrainian domestic production capacity – in other words, the capacity that the state, foundations, or other customers can potentially utilise, rather than the current production rate.

As for the actual production of drones, it has increased “tenfold” since 2022. The estimates are based on the number of UAVs produced, i.e. taking into account a large number of cheap First-Person View (FPV) drones that were not being made before the invasion.

“The drones purchased by the Army of Drones hit 14,000 targets between June 2023 and January 2024 [The Army of Drones is a joint project to procure UAVs for the Ukrainian Armed Forces run by the Ukrainian General Staff, the State Special Communications Service, the Ministry of Digital Transformation, and the Ministry of Defence – ed.]. These include tanks, armoured personnel carriers, strong points, etc. We’ve had cases when 80 pieces of equipment were hit in one night,” the Ministry of Digital Transformation reported. The ministry added that it considers only those operations for which Ukrainian troops provided video confirmation.

Ukraine has trained 20,000 UAV operators and engaged 33 partner schools as part of the Army of Drones.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation reported that the government had passed about 20 laws and regulations in the past year and a half to simplify UAV production. These include the simplification of the approval process for operation, export controls, exemption of components from VAT and duties which has increased the profitability of manufacturers by up to 25%, the liberalisation of the ammunition market, etc.

In order to increase funding for procurement this year, the UNITED24 initiative has allocated UAH 10 million [roughly US$266,000] to dozens of brigades to independently purchase drones on the market.

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