Reuters: Ukraine Is Preparing Military ‘Surprise’ For Russia
- 12.02.2024, 16:48
For 1,000 kilometers.
Ukraine will produce thousands of long-range UAVs capable of striking deep into Russian territory in 2024, and already has up to 10 companies producing drones that can reach Moscow and St. Petersburg. Minister for Innovation, Development of Education, Science and Technology of Ukraine Mikhaylo Fedorov stated this in an interview with the Reuters news agency.
“The category of long-range kamikaze drones with a flight range of 300, 500, 700 and 1000 kilometers is growing. Two years ago, such a category did not exist...at all,” he said.
Unlike Russia, where the state dominates drone production, in Ukraine the vast majority of manufacturers are private. According to Fedorov, only one out of 10 companies whose drones can fly to Moscow and St. Petersburg is state-owned.
Fedorov agrees with the opinion of the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, Kirylo Budanov, that Kyiv has achieved “a certain parity” with Moscow in the production of long-range UAVs.
“We should act in an anti-bureaucratic way. This is the essence of a breakthrough in the technology war. We are going to continue to rely on this, to work in this direction, because technology can really save us,” says the Minister for Innovation, Development of Education, Science and Technology of Ukraine.
According to Fedorov, since the beginning of 2023, Ukraine has trained 20,000 UAV operators, and 20 schools are engaged in this.
Overall, more than 300,000 drones of various types were contracted last year and more than 100,000 deployed to the front, he said, adding that the figures do not include supplies from volunteers, who he said made a “significant contribution.”
“We have removed taxes on UAV components, simplified the contracting procedure and the decommissioning procedure,” he said. “In other words, we took all the blockages faced by private sector companies and eliminated them in six months by passing all the necessary laws and regulations.”
The Ukrainian drone industry relies heavily on components from foreign countries, including China, which is a Russian ally. Fedorov said that efforts are being made to localize the production of components.
“That’s why I think if we continue this trend, by the end of this year we will have many companies that are already producing more than 50% of their components locally.”
The private sector has also been constrained by the government's monopoly on the production of drone ammunition. He said Ukraine passed a resolution to end that state monopoly three months ago and then suspended a separate monopoly on the production of artillery shells and missiles.
“Over the past three months, more than 20 companies have already passed the tests and can now provide ammunition to the state,” he said.