Russia scales up attack drone production eightfold in one year - aviation expert

He shared the information on Espreso TV.

“As for Russia’s capacity to produce medium- and long-range drones, specifically Shaheds, Gerans, Gerbera drones, and decoy UAVs, we can see that over the past year, Russia has increased production eightfold. While a year ago, the Russians were producing around 500 units per month, by the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025, they were manufacturing and launching approximately 4,000 units. Russia continues to ramp up production of these types of drones,” noted Bohdan Dolintse.

According to him, in order to launch over 300 drones on a daily basis, Russia would need to reach a production volume of at least 150,000–170,000 units.

“As of today, we can state that the scale of drone attacks may remain just as large, but Russia will need a certain amount of time to prepare for each attack, typically three days or more. Regarding Russia’s use of various types of missiles, we must remember the limitations on their production of cruise and ballistic missiles. According to various estimates, Russia may be producing about 40–50 ballistic missiles per month. Production of cruise missiles such as Kalibr and Kh-101 may reach up to 100 units per month. Accordingly, Russia’s capacity for producing missiles of various types is about 120–150 units per month. However, the Russians also occasionally use North Korean KN-23 missiles,” the aviation expert commented.

Dolintse added that last year, the Russian army used over 50 North Korean missiles, and this year, according to different estimates, the number of missiles received and used by Russia from North Korea may be comparable.

• On May 25, The Economist reported that the main challenge for Ukrainian air defense units remains the sharp increase in the number of Russian drones. Russia can produce 300 UAVs in less than three days.