Ukrainian drone production increased 100 times over in previous year – digital minister

Compared to last year, the production and number of drones in Ukraine have increased more than 100 times.

Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine that the current war "is a technology war."

The digital minister said he believed drones, electronic warfare, drone protection, situational awareness systems, and satellite communications were important components of the technological war, Rubryka reports.

"Here we need maximum deregulation, the opening of markets, so that businesses can get contracts, create products, and scale production," said Fedorov.

He also mentioned that Ukraine created a pilot project, "Army of Drones." To make this initiative happen, dozens of resolutions and laws were adopted; this direction was deregulated, and funding was increased.

"If you compare this year and last year, the production and number of drones that our Armed Forces, in general, all the Defense Forces, will receive by the end of the year, has increased more than 100 times," the minister said.

Fedorov also said that his ministry opened a new direction of military projects in the Diia governmental app, where defense businesses were incorporated into the platform. So far, more than 40 drone manufacturers have registered in Diia.

"This is what this ecosystem looks like for me, allowing us to quickly make decisions and see the results on the battlefield from these policies that the government is forming," the minister added.

Drone production in Ukraine

Former Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov said Ukrainian soldiers already use more than 20 new types of Ukrainian-made drones.

Currently, Ukraine records a real boom in drone production the government simplified procedures for developers, as well as manufacturers of weapons and military equipment.

The Cabinet of Ministers allocated ₴40 billion for investments in Ukrainian drone manufacturers this year.

In July of last year, the United24 fundraising platform, together with the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Ministry of Digital Transformation, announced the start of the "Army of Drones" project.

The initiative has been around for over a year now. During this time, mass production of drones, UAV strike companies, and training of drone operators were created in Ukraine — these are the main achievements of the project.

Over the year, the United 24 fundraising platform collected $325 million, and 10,000 UAV operators have already been trained in Ukraine as part of the "Army of Drones" project.