Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation Mykhailo Fedorov stated that the country will produce 1 million drones per year and over 90 per cent of drones currently being used in combat zones are domestically made.
In December 2023, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky announced a plan to produce more than 1 million FPV drones this year, including at least 10,000 mid-range drones and 1000 long range drones with a range of more than 1000 km.
According to Fedorov, the Ukrainian government is actively working on this plan, and many contracts to produce hundreds of thousands of drones have already been signed, with the country poised to achieve this goal.
⚡️ Fedorov: Ukraine to produce 1 million drones per year.
Ukraine will reach its goal of producing 1 million drones per year, Digital Transformations Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said at the "Ukraine. Year 2024" forum on Feb. 25.https://t.co/KicVWTikz9
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) February 25, 2024
With Ukraine having tremendously used different types of drones for surveillance and strike missions, the country is now set to create a separate branch dedicated to drone operations within the Ukrainian armed forces.
How is Ukraine using FPV drones?
The Ukrainian military fits explosives to First Person View (FPV) drones, which are designed for civilian purposes, to convert them into kamikaze drones. These drones are used to target Russian armored vehicles and personnel with suicide attacks and also to drop small bombs on Russian personnel.
While Western countries rejected supplying weapons capable of reaching the Russian mainland to Ukraine, the country developed numerous kamikaze drones with more than 1000 km range, enabling them to target key infrastructure in Russian cities, including Moscow.
Notably, in May 2023, Russia claimed that Ukraine targeted the Kremlin with two kamikaze drones.
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The Ukrainian military has repeatedly targeted Russian cities and oil & gas infrastructure, as well as air bases, damaging many high-value assets including bombers and AEW&C systems (Airborne Early Warning and Control Systems).
In August 2023, Ukraine reportedly destroyed a Russian supersonic long-range bomber, the Tu-22M3, using these long-range kamikaze drones.
These FPV drones are also being used for reconnaissance missions to conduct precision strikes using HIMARS MLRS, artillery forces, and missiles.
American GMLRS fired by HIMARS and M777 Excalibur shells fired by M777 howitzers have satellite guidance, enabling them to hit targets with a Circular Error Probable (CEP) of less than 10 metres.
With Ukrainian FPV drones relaying coordinates of Russian armoured vehicles and air defence systems, GMLRS and Excalibur shells have destroyed many targets, causing serious trouble for the Russian military on the frontline.
These drones are also being used to locate key Russian military infrastructure along the frontline such as bunkers and warehouses, providing targeting data for Storm Shadow missile strikes.
Russia is jamming FPV drones
While Ukraine has been extensively using FPV drones, reports suggest a significant portion of these drones are being jammed by Russian Electronic Warfare (EW) systems.
According to British Intelligence reports, Ukraine is losing up to 10,000 drones monthly to Russian EW systems.
Despite this, the remaining drones are still causing serious damage to the Russian military. Ukraine also claims to have developed drones with jamming resistance.
Russia’s drone production
Currently, Ukraine is producing 50,000 FPV drones per month, whereas Russia is producing 300,000 FPV drones per month, according to some reports.
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Russia is also extensively using Iranian long-range Shahed 136 drones to target Ukrainian infrastructure, along with various small loitering munitions like Lancet drones as well as wooden drones.
While Ukraine is slated to produce at least 11,000 medium to long-range drones per year, Russia aims to produce 32,000 drones per year by 2030.
Conclusion
As drone warfare escalates between Russia and Ukraine, both nations are intensifying drone production efforts to gain an advantage in the battlefield and Ukraine needs to further increase the production rate to match the Russian military. The war highlights the importance of various drones in modern warfare to other countries.
