Ukraine to manufacture thousands of long-range kamikaze drones

Vice Prime Minister for Innovation, Development of Education, Science, and Technology — Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov revealed this in an interview with Reuters.

“The category of long-range kamikaze drones with flight ranges of 300, 500, 700, and 1,000 kilometers is growing. Two years ago, such a category did not exist at all”, the minister said.

Evidence of the government’s efforts to increase the production of long-range drones is a recent series of strikes on Russian oil facilities.

Last year, as part of the BRAVE1 initiative, military technology startups were allocated around $2.5 million in grants, and in 2024, this amount will increase tenfold.

Moreover, the vast majority of manufacturers are private. As Fedorov noted, only one out of 10 companies whose drones can reach Moscow and St. Petersburg is state-owned.

Fedorov emphasized his agreement with the assessment of the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, that Kyiv has achieved “a certain parity” with Moscow in the production of long-range drones.

“We need to act in an anti-bureaucratic manner. This is the essence of a breakthrough in the technology war. We are going to continue to focus on this, to work in this direction. Because technologies can really save us”, he said.

It’s worth noting that the Minister of Digital Transformation also announced the release of drones with artificial intelligence technology.

Photo: Gov.ua