Ukraine will purchase up to 1 mln FPV drones next year – defense minister

For the first time, the Ministry of Defense formed a need at the level of Ukraine's armed forces and coordinated it with the capacities of Ukrainian manufacturers. In particular, it is planned to purchase up to 1 million FPV drones in 2024.

The Ukrainian Minister of Defense, Rustem Umierov, wrote about this in a column for Ukrinform.

"The Ministry of Defense has ordered the first batches of FPV drones. In 2024, the state plans to purchase at least one million drones. It is important that, for the first time, the full real need of the military for drones has been calculated and summarized. We are working on effective logistics, making purchases cheaper, and producing a sufficient number of combat units," Umierov wrote.

As the Minister of Defense noted earlier, the Ministry of Defense did not purchase this effective and cost-effective means of defeating the enemy due to the lack of clear criteria and rules for their use on the battlefield at the legislative level.

FPV drones were purchased by:

• volunteers,
• Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine,
• regional military administrations.

As the minister noted, in general, for the year 2024, the Ministry of Defense, for the first time, formed an agreed need at the level of the Defense Forces.

"Previously, each power agency formed its own need for the year, which in some places contradicted or duplicated each other. The Ministry of Defense led and systematized this process. The need was not only formed but also coordinated with the real capacities of Ukrainian manufacturers, their scaling plans, opportunities to conduct purchases abroad, and plans for supplying military-technical assistance from partners," Umierov wrote.

It should be noted that Ukraine plans to produce 1 million FPV drones, over 10,000 mid-range strike drones, and over a thousand drones with a range of 1,000 km in 2024.

For reference:

Earlier, the Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, reported that the Ukrainian market for the production of drones is actively developing. Currently, more than 100 companies manufacture drones in the country.

In addition, the head of Ukraine's Security Service previously reported that a unique sea surface drone, "Sea Baby," was produced in Ukraine. The production of these drones is located in Ukraine, but the factories are located underground.

Recently, the State Special Forces also reported that they had ordered hundreds of domestically produced drones from Ukroboronprom. They will be ready by the end of the year.

In addition, according to the Minister of Strategic Industries, Oleksandr Kamyshin, Ukraine has established mass production of the domestic analog of Shahed drones. Dozens of such drones can be produced in a month.

Recently, in Ukraine, mass production of domestic strike UAVs of the Cobra aircraft type, developed by engineers from Kryvyi Rih, began: their flight range is up to 300 km.

In general, the shortage of artillery ammunition continues in Ukraine today; therefore, to compensate for the lack of shells, the country will increase the production of kamikaze drones.