Ukraine on track to receive total of 3 million FPV drones in 2025, defense minister says
Ukraine's Armed Forces are expected to receive a total of three million first-person-view (FPV) drones by the end of 2025, nearly 2.5 times more than last year, Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Dec. 24.
The announcement underscores Kyiv's push to expand domestic weapons production as drones play an increasingly decisive role in Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
"The role of unmanned systems on the battlefield is growing, and therefore the production of innovative instruments of war is our number one priority," Shmyhal said.
According to the defense minister, most drones used by Ukrainian forces are produced domestically.
He also said the Defense Procurement Agency supplied 2.4 million FPV drones to the military in 2025, with the majority purchased through direct contracts with manufacturers.
Another 200,000 drones were delivered via the DOT-Chain Defence IT system, a digital procurement platform launched in late July, Shmyhal added.
He said Ukraine has also expanded its use of ground-based robotic systems. Nearly 15,000 such platforms were delivered to the Armed Forces in 2025, three times more than the previous year.
Drones have become central to modern warfare in Ukraine, with both Ukrainian and Russian forces relying heavily on unmanned systems for reconnaissance, artillery targeting, and precision strikes.
