Ukraine able to produce over 3 million drones a year, ministry says

Ukraine 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 on July 30.

Drones have been a key tool in Ukraine's defense against Russia's war. Ukraine officially presented its Unmanned Systems Forces in June, after President Volodymyr Zelensky issued a decree in February ordering the creation of a separate branch of the armed forces tasked with improving drone operations.

"We have large enough production capacity, we can produce more than 3 million drones of various types today," Hvozdiar said at a government-organized hackathon, as quoted by Suspilne.

Ukraine needs financing for the production of drones, as the state can only cover part of the budget. Funding from foreign partners, such as Canada, will help to cover the rest of the financing, Hvozdiar said.

According to Hvozdiar, Kyiv is also in talks with the U.K. to help purchase domestically-produced drones for the Ukrainian military.

In April, Denmark became the first country among Ukraine's partners to buy weapons and equipment for Ukraine's Armed Forces from a domestic manufacturer as part of a military aid package.

The same month, Canada announced it would donate $2.2 million to Ukraine's drone production in collaboration with the U.K.

According to Strategic Industries Minister Alexander Kamyshin, foreign investment is needed because Ukraine's defense industry has a capacity worth around $20 billion, but the state only has up to $10 billion to purchase weapons and equipment.

In June, the state-owned company Ukrainian Defense Industry, also known as Ukroboronprom, said it had launched the serial production of strike drones with a range of over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).

The head of Ukrainian Defense Industry, Herman Smetanin, said that with the help of "private individuals," the company was now able to "scale production" of long-range drones.