Ukraine must boost production of strike and reconnaissance drones for vital military advancement – Air Force

Increasing the production of attack and reconnaissance UAVs is vital for Ukraine.

Yuriy Ihnat, the spokesperson of the Air Force of Ukraine's armed forces, stated this on the air of the nationwide telethon "Yedyni Novyni," according to Ukrinform.

"This is a vital necessity [to increase the production of drones – ed.], this is what we need now as much as possible – hundreds, thousands in response to what the enemies are doing. You see, they are building up exactly this type of ammo. You don't even need to invent anything; you also need to do it. We cooperate with many Western countries; joint production has already been established for certain types of ammunition. So why don't we multiply it? This can be done both on the territory of our state and on the territories of partner states, making attack UAVs a cheaper way to disturb Russia with Ukrainian weapons. I emphasize this because the West is very worried about some escalation so that we do not use Western weapons against them on the territory of Russia. Thus, we must build up all UAVs without exception; FPV drones today are a volunteer niche. We see how many volunteers supply them," Ihnat said, adding that Ukraine also needs reconnaissance UAVs, which the enemy also shoots down.

According to the spokesperson, all UAVs are needed to wear down the Russian air defense system and to strike at the objects of Russia's critical infrastructure.

Answering the question of what are the consequences of enemy activity at night and how much the weather affects the actions of the enemy's aircraft, Ihnat noted that there were unsuccessful attempts by the enemy to use the Kh-59 missile that night, and the weather affected the use of UAVs.

"It's freezing, the wind is strong, bad visibility – all this affects the actions of aviation, definitely not flying weather. But for UAVs, it depends on the wind. If the wind is strong, it can affect, can blow drones, etc. It has less effect on cruise missiles. But a drone is an airplane with its own characteristics and flight range. Apparently, bad weather has an effect," the spokesperson said.

For reference:

The Ukrainian market for the production of drones is actively developing; more than 100 companies manufacture drones in the country.

Today, the Ukrainian army already has dozens of drones of domestic production. We are talking not only about unmanned aerial vehicles but also about surface drones.

Ukraine has also established serial production of the domestic analog of Shahed drones.

Additionally, Rubryka announced that the speed of drone transfers from suppliers to units of Ukraine's armed forces has reached a record high. This can be completed in a few days thanks to significantly reducing bureaucratic processes.

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