Minister: Ukraine to produce tens of thousands of drones per month by year's end
Ukraine is already producing thousands of drones per month, but this will soon increase to tens of thousands per month, said Minister for Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin on Oct. 25.
Kamyshin was in Stockholm, Sweden, for the NATO Industrial Forum.
All of Ukraine's defense production capacities have greatly increased, Kamyshin added, including the production of shells, but it is still short of what is required.
In particular, the domestic drone industry has rapidly expanded. Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Oct. 7 that more than 200 Ukrainian companies have begun developing drones, fueling a massive increase in production as well as 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.
Ukrainian drone units supported by the Army of Drones initiative destroyed or damaged 69 towed artillery pieces and 17 self-propelled howitzers from Sept. 25 to Oct. 2, constituting a new record.
Francis Farrell
