News Feed

Minister: Ukraine already produced 50,000 FPV drones in December

1 min read
Minister: Ukraine already produced 50,000 FPV drones in December
FPV drones hanging on a wall at an Adam Group base in Donetsk Oblast on Aug. 3, 2023. (Photo: Francis Farrell/Kyiv Independent)

Ukraine has already produced 50,000 first-person-view (FPV) drones in December, Strategic Industries Minister Oleksandr Kamyshin said on Dec. 20.

FPV drones are cheap to manufacture and can be precisely flown into targets. They have the capability of destroying much more expensive military equipment.

Kamyshin said in October that Ukraine aimed to massively scale up its production of drones to tens of thousands per month.

He added on Dec. 10 that Ukraine has the capability to produce 10,000 mid-range drones and 1,000 long-range drones, which can fly more than 1,000 kilometers, in 2024.

The full-scale invasion has fueled a significant increase in the production of drones, as well as their technical innovation.

Ukraine's "Army of Drones" is a joint initiative of the Digital Transformation Ministry and the governmental UNITED24 fundraising platform. It was launched in July 2022, with Star Wars actor Mark Hamill as the initiative's ambassador.

In addition to procuring drones, the initiative is tasked with repairing drones and training soldiers on how to operate them.

Deadly drone arms race intensifies as Ukraine, Russia embrace the future of war
At this stage of a war that could last years more, both Ukraine and Russia are getting serious with their drone game: ramping up production while always looking to come up with new innovations.
Article image
News Feed

The group is using an "adversary-in-the-middle" technique to deploy its custom "ApolloShadow" malware for intelligence collection. This campaign, active since at least 2024, poses a high risk to diplomatic entities and sensitive organizations in Moscow, particularly those relying on local internet providers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a new law significantly expanding the grounds for revoking naturalized Russian citizenship, now listing crimes such as extremism, murder, and collaboration against the state.

Show More