Military expert refutes Russia’s claim of 4,000 daily FPV drone production

Production of FPV drones in Russia has allegedly increased to 4,000 units per day. Russian state propaganda media outlet RIA-Novosti reported this, citing Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov.

According to Belousov, Russia's military-industrial complex has significantly boosted FPV drone production. 

“The number of FPV drones has increased dramatically. Now, it's over 4,000 per day,” Belousov said during a conversation with Russian soldiers.

Oleksandr Kovalenko, a Ukrainian military and political observer, analyzed the Russian Defense Minister's statement and explained why it is false. 

He noted that this claim is likely to be heavily promoted by Russian propagandists in the coming days, potentially causing widespread panic in the Ukrainian media.

According to Kovalenko, Russian forces are steadily increasing their use of FPV drones.

“In reality, the use of FPV drones by Russian forces is indeed rising systematically. I regularly publish statistics on this, and it's already clear that July will set a new record for FPV drone usage,” Kovalenko stated.

Currently, the average daily utilization of FPV drones by Russian forces is around 350-400 units, not the thousands claimed. If production in Russia were truly 4,000 per day, Ukraine would experience a critical impact across the frontlines, he emphasized.

“Therefore, the new Russian Defense Minister is no different from his predecessor, known for making exaggerated claims. He appears to have inflated the numbers by a factor of ten. Based on the frequency of FPV drone attacks, it's evident that the actual supply to the battlefield is around 400 per day, not 4,000. Nevertheless, this is not a reason to relax but rather a sign of what the Russians are aiming for,” Kovalenko concluded.

• The Russian defense industry has increased the production of Kh-101 cruise missiles and is now capable of producing approximately 600 missiles annually.