Czech drone facility making weapons for Ukraine set on fire, investigation underway
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Czech authorities are investigating a fire that broke out overnight at a drone production facility, officials said March 20, with investigators treating the incident as a possible terrorist attack.
The facility belongs to Czech defense firm LPP Holding, which manufactures drones used on the battlefield in Ukraine. The investigation follows reports that a group protesting Israeli weapons claimed responsibility.
The fire took place at an industrial complex in Pardubice, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of Prague. LPP Holding confirmed a fire at one of its facilities and denied producing drones for Israel.
"No Israeli drones have ever been manufactured at our facility," the company said.
The firm said that previously announced plans to partner with Israeli company Elbit Systems on drone production were never implemented.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said the fire is "being investigated as a terrorist act," and Interior Minister Lubomir Metnar also asserted there is "probable connection to a terrorist attack."
Local firefighters said they responded early Friday to a fire in a storage hall within the complex. The blaze later spread to a second building. No injuries were reported.
In a previous incident in June 2025, activists protesting Israeli weapons damaged military equipment in a warehouse in Belgium. The equipment, however, was reporedly intended for Ukraine, not Israel.
LPP Holding produces drones powered by artificial intelligence (AI), including the MTS group of strike drones combat-tested on the front lines in Ukraine. According to the manufacturer, their AI programming allows the systems to operate autonomously, without a human drone operator, in areas of intense electronic warfare (EW).
The most powerful of the group, the MTS40, has a flight range of 600 kilometers (372 miles) and carries a 12-kilogram warhead.
Ukraine has rapidly scaled up its drone program since 2022, seeking an edge in the technological race against Russia. This includes investing in AI development: in September 2025, Ukrainian AI drone startup Swarmer, raised $15 million in funding — the single-largest investment in a Ukrainian defense company since the start of the full-scale invasion.
