Ukroboronprom expands production of FPV drones

6 November, 2023 Ukrainian KH-S7 strike FPV drone. September 2023. Photo credits: ArmyInform

Ukroboronprom has mastered the production of FPV drones in its facilities to meet the needs of the Ukrainian army. Herman Smetanin, Director General of JSC Ukrainian Defense Industry (Ukroboronprom), said this in his interview with Ekonomichna Pravda. According to him, the licensed production of three models of FPV drones created by private companies has been launched.

"FPV drones are needed a lot now. We help private companies scale their developments. We have signed license agreements with three large companies to produce their models. We have people, premises, [drone] components delivered to us, and we produce [them].

We help everyone who comes to us scale up their developments," Smetanin said.

FPV drone in the Defense Forces of Ukraine. Photo credits: 35th Marine Brigade

In August, Yaroslav Oliynyk, Advisor to the Minister for Strategic Industries, said that three Ukrainian state-owned plants had already started producing FPV drones. Ukraine is currently working to scale up and develop the UAV market.

To do this, the state is looking for ways to partner with public and private manufacturers. In addition, the localization of the production of parts in Ukraine is being continued, as is cooperation with international investors, funds, and manufacturers. In October, the head of FPV drone production at Escadrone said that Ukrainian manufacturers of drones supply the Defense Forces of Ukraine with 12,000 to 15,000 FPV drones per month.

FPV drones manufactured by Eskadron.

Photo credits: BusinessCensor

The Escadrone launched drone production in August 2022 with a batch of 20 drones. A year later, in August 2023, they reached a production rate of 2,743 drones per month. According to the plans, the monthly number will be increased to 4,000 units in December.

It is worth noting that this manufacturer has a small share of the Ukrainian drone market. Speaking about the cost of drones, the head of Escadrone's production noted that it depends on the model and ranges from 12-27 thousand hryvnias per one.

FPV drone, illustrative photo. Photo credits: heroesukraine.org

Ukraine is also developing FPV drones with a self-homing system.

This should improve their combat capabilities and effectiveness.