Ukraine to Manufacture or Buy up to 200,000 Drones by End 2023

Buoyed by the excellent results by drones in its war against Russia, Ukraine has plans to buy or manufacture up to 200,000 UAVs worth an estimated $1.09 Billion by the year-end.

"When we began this project, we set a task [to manufacture or buy] around 200,000 drones," Yury Shchigol, chief of Ukraine’s Special Communications Service, said on Tuesday. "We will have approximately 180,000-200,000 drones for this year."

In a massive coordinated Ukrainian drone attack this morning, several IL-76 military transport aircraft were set on fire in Pskov airfield besides damages to military and civilian property in Sevastopol naval base and other parts of Russia.

Shchigol said the Ukrainian government has inked agreements totaling 25 billion hryvnias ($688 million) from the allocated budget of 40 billion hryvnias ($1.09 billion) designated for drone acquisitions. These contracts encompass the production of up to 22,000 combat drones, with around 15,000 of them already delivered to the military as of now.

The official added that Ukraine’s daily losses comprises 45 reconnaissance drones as well a bevy of combat drones. "These are both the simplest models, such as the Mavic and Matrice, and big professional drones of Ukrainian and foreign make. So, it is impossible to supply that many drones at a time. They are not produced in such quantities either in Ukraine or elsewhere in the world," he added.