Ukraine reaches record high in drone production, exceeding targets

Deputy Minister of Defense, Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk, announced on October 23, during a blitz interview with RBC-Ukraine, that the drone production plan unveiled at the end of last year had been exceeded, Defense Express reports.

While specific production figures remain classified, the targets for 10,000 medium-range strike drones, 1,000 long-range drones (over 1,000 km), and 1 million FPV drones, as previously mentioned by the Ukrainian President, have all been surpassed.

This marks a historic achievement for Ukraine’s drone industry. Considering the production of over 1 million FPV drones in just 10 months (approximately 300 days), Ukraine is on track to produce an additional 200-400 drones by the end of 2024, resulting in a total output of more than 1.2 million drones, setting a new production record.

Earlier in 2024, the Ministry of Defense purchased drones worth UAH 30 billion, with 95% of them produced domestically. Additionally, the government allocated UAH 24 billion in the summer of the same year.

To put this in perspective, Ukraine manufactured 600,000 FPV drones in 2023. To meet the target of 1 million, monthly production needed to average around 83,000 drones. In 2024, production capacity surged by 67%, showcasing significant growth.