Russia is planning to increase drone production "almost ten times" this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on Sept. 19, Kremlin-controlled Interfax news agency reported.
In 2023, the Russian army received about 140,000 drones of different types, according to Putin. This year, Moscow wants to produce 1.4 million, Putin said.
Throughout Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine and Russia have heavily invested in drone technology, revolutionizing the way wars are fought.
For outnumbered Ukrainian forces, drones have been one of the key weapons to strike Russian warships, naval bases, oil refineries, and airfields inside occupied territories and deep behind Russia's lines.
"The key task is to produce a wide range of unmanned aerial vehicles, to establish mass production of such promising equipment as quickly as possible," the Russian president said at a meeting with Russia's military-industrial commission.
"Along with the development of drones, we also need to examine ways to destroy them with electronic warfare and conventional means."
Moscow wants to design, test, and produce drones using Russian special research and production centers. Russia is also developing naval drones, Putin claimed.
Russia has widely deployed drone capabilities during the war, both on the battlefield and to attack Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
Ukraine has proven to be a pioneer in drone technology, with 1 million drones contracted by Ukrainian manufacturers through 2024, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Kyiv has the production capacity to produce more than 3 million drones a year but requires financing from foreign partners, Deputy Strategic Industries Minister Hanna Hvozdiar said.
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