Ukraine's Defence Ministry proudly demonstrates Ukraine-made drones and denies having no orders

The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine has stated that is had put into service or operation 28 models of Ukraine-made unmanned aerial vehicles and has received two offers from Ukrainian Defence Industry state company (Ukroboronprom), but cannot buy the models that are not being mass-produced so far.

Source: Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and Defence Express 

Details: The Ukrainian Defence Ministry reported that it has adopted or put into operation 28 Ukraine-made UAV models of different types since 22 February 2022. Among these UAVs there are nine models of kamikaze drones, out of them three are of aircraft type and six are FPV-drones (First Person View).

The ministry added that thousands of drones and UAVs have been delivered to Ukrainian Armed Forces in the context of procurement.

The Defence Ministry considers the development of the Ukrainian production of armament and military equipment, mainly reconnaissance and combat drones, kamikaze drones and loitering munition a priority.

In the autumn of 2022, the Defence Ministry of Ukraine significantly simplified the procedures for inventors and manufacturers. This allowed to shorten the entry of new armament and equipment into service from about two to three years to five weeks.

The Ministry stressed that "the supply of Ukraine-made UAVs to the Armed Forces of Ukraine is constantly increasing exponentially".

The contracts on mass production of 10 models of UAVs of different types have been signed with a number of Ukrainian companies. The commissioned items and production volume have not been disclosed for safety reasons. The supply volume has been determined by the demand of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Quote: "According to the budget prescriptions, signing contracts for non-existent production models is prohibited. Procurement can be conducted exclusively on the grounds of concrete demands by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which can only concern already existing devices."

Details: As of 20 July 2023, the Defence Ministry has received two offers from companies which used to be a part of a former Ukroboronprom defence concern [after reorganisation – Joint Stock Company Ukrainian Defence Industry (JSC UDI) – ed.].

In 2023, a state contract for the procurement of a reconnaissance drone was signed with a company of the concern.

The testing of the only kamikaze drone, which was produced by one of the companies of the Ukrainian Defence Industry, has been finished. The procedure of putting the drone into operation is ongoing. After this procedure is finished, and the General Staff expresses its demand for the aforementioned unmanned aircraft system, the decision about its procurement for the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be considered.

Background: On 19 July, Defense Express cited Oleh Boldyrev, project manager of Ukroboronprom, who stated in a comment that Ukraine had commissioned no drones from the companies of Ukroboronprom, so mass production of drones at the concern companies was not planned.

Boldyrev posted (and then deleted) this comment under the nickname of Martin Brest under a Facebook post of journalist Oleksandr Surkov, where the latter wrote that Ukroboronprom has not even offered any self-made effective products to the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the year and a half of the war, let alone organising mass production of typical models.

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