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

by Nate Ostiller and The Kyiv Independent news desk December 20, 2023 4:01 PM 1 min read

FPV drones hanging on a wall at an Adam Group base in Donetsk Oblast on Aug. 3, 2023. (Photo: Francis Farrell/Kyiv Independent)

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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.

Authors: Nate Ostiller, The Kyiv Independent news desk

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

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