The Russian invasion of Ukraine is widely recognized as the first ever full-scale drone war. This has transformed Ukraine into the world’s leading laboratory for drone development. In this new security environment, the Ukrainian authorities and the country’s private sector have prioritized the production of drones and expanded manufacturing capacity at an unprecedented rate. Meanwhile, international drone producers are also looking to partner with Ukraine and are entering the Ukrainian market despite the obvious challenges created by Russia’s ongoing invasion.
Since the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has earned a global reputation for defense tech innovation, and has been responsible for breakthroughs in a range of spheres ranging from drones and communications to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. This potential first became evidence eight years earlier when Russia first began its attack on Ukraine with the seizure of Crimea and hybrid invasion of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. While the long-neglected Ukrainian army was caught uprepared by the sudden outbreak of hostilities with Russia in spring 2014, Ukraine’s vibrant tech sector was able to react far more rapidly to the unprecedented threat facing the country. A number of tech companies and startups were soon producing ground-breaking drones, some of which have remained indispensible elements of the Ukrainian military’s UAV fleet.
Ukraine has come a long way over the past decade since those early days of 2014. The country’s Ministry for Digital Transformation, which has been instrumental in supporting the expansion of domestic defense tech manufacturing, has reported that during the first two years of Russia’s full-scale invasion, drone output rose by more than a hundredfold. There are now believed to be over 200 Ukrainian companies engaged in drone manufacturing. As a result of these efforts, the Ukrainian army is currently receiving more than ten thousand domestically produced attack drones every month.
In the initial stages of the full-scale war, the rapid growth of Ukraine’s drone capabilities owed much to the work of individual entrepreneurs and volunteer networks. These informal efforts were gradually given more structure thanks to the launch of projects like the Army of Drones initiative. The Ukrainian government has now identified drones as a spending priority and allocated a significant portion of the country’s 2024 defense budget to support research and production. Kyiv’s partners share this strategic vision and have established a drone coalition to provide Ukraine with large quantities of the latest models.
Drones have played a key role in the Ukrainian war effort. Throughout late 2023 and early 2024 when the Ukrainian military experienced mounting ammunition shortages due to an extended pause in Western military aid, attack drones were deployed to help make up for the lack of artillery firepower on the front lines. Meanwhile, Ukraine has used domestically produced long-range drones to bomb Russian refineries located more than one thousand kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
Ukraine’s single most striking drone success story has been the development of maritime drones, which have given Ukraine the upper hand in the Battle of the Black Sea. Despite not having a navy of its own, Ukraine has used innovative maritime drone technology to sink or damage around one-third of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, forcing Putin to withdraw the bulk of his remaining warships from occupied Crimea to the relative safety of Russian ports. This has allowed Ukraine to break the Russian naval blockade of the country’s Black Sea ports and reopen merchant shipping lanes.
Despite this obvious progress, many roadblocks remain. Domestic drone producers continue to complain of bureaucratic delays and a dependence on foreign components that creates potential bottlenecks and vulnerabilities. Critics say the military certification process is still too time-consuming and does not reflect the urgency of the situation. As the drone industry continues to mature, companies also face increasing difficulties finding specialists with the kind of specialized skills necessary to maintain Ukraine’s innovation advantage over Russia.
Unsurprisingly, more and more international drone companies are seeking to establish a presence in Ukraine. German drone manufacturer Quantum Systems unveiled a new production plant in Ukraine in April 2024, adding to the Munich-based company’s existing Ukrainian support, logistics, and training center. Quantum Systems Vector reconnaissance drones have been in use in Ukraine since May 2022. By the end of 2024, a total of 500 reconnaissance drones are expected to have been delivered to Ukraine. The new production facility is set to increase production capacity to around 1,000 drones per year.
Turkish drone industry flagship company Baykar has been cooperating with Ukraine for a number of years. Baykar officials first unveiled plans to establish a presence in the Kyiv region before the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion, and are proceeding with this initiative. The facility is expected to feature a production plant along with research and testing components. Meanwhile, Poland’s WB Electronics, the makers of the FlyEye reconnaissance drone, have opened a service center in Ukraine, with Latvian UAV manufacturer ATLAS also announcing plans to build a Ukrainian production plant.