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Shmyhal: More than 200 Ukrainian companies began developing drones

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Shmyhal: More than 200 Ukrainian companies began developing drones
A large Jupiter fixed-wing drone is tested by the Defender Army at an undisclosed location on Sept. 5, 2023. (Photo: Francis Farrell/Kyiv Independent)

More than 200 Ukrainian companies began developing drones, growing domestic production by a hundredfold in a year, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Oct. 7.

Speaking at Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's Parliament, Shmyhal said that the defense industry has radically changed in the wake of Russia's full-scale war as it encourages private companies' involvement by making the "path of a drone from development to its purchase as short as possible."

Shmyhal's statement comes as Ukrainian innovators ramp up their efforts to help the military better defend themselves by developing new types of drones – such as ones that are resistant to Russia's powerful electronic warfare that often jams them.

In a move to encourage private companies' production of drones – now crucial to track enemy troop movements and locate their firing points from above, the government has taken steps to simplify the long bureaucratic process required for innovation to be officially used by the military.

Platforms, such as Brave1 that provides financial and informational support for Ukrainian defense tech projects, have been established to guide the innovation process.

The innovators, however, say that realizing war-time innovations on the battlefield is still a long and expensive bureaucratic process, often facing the lack of financial resources to keep going.

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.
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Asami Terajima

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Asami Terajima is a reporter at the Kyiv Independent covering Ukrainian military issues, front-line developments, and politics. She is the co-author of the weekly War Notes newsletter. She previously worked as a business reporter for the Kyiv Post focusing on international trade, infrastructure, investment, and energy. Originally from Japan, Terajima moved to Ukraine during childhood and completed her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in the U.S. She is the winner of the Thomson Reuters Foundation's Kurt Schork Award in International Journalism 2023 (Local Reporter category) and the George Weidenfeld Prize, awarded as part of Germany's Axel Springer Prize 2023. She was also featured in the Media Development Foundation’s “25 under 25: Young and Bold” 2023 list of emerging media makers in Ukraine.

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