Following the Russian invasion, Ukraine was forced to significantly increase its armament production, and today, not only does it meet its internal needs, but it has also become an important player in the international market. In a recent interview, presidential advisor Oleksandr Kamishin stated that „Ukraine is capable of producing 5 million FPV drones per year” and that it is no longer a „matter of quantity, but of quality.”
Ukraine’s Defense Industry Exceeds Expectations
Ukraine’s situation has changed drastically compared to three years ago. According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, approximately 40% of Ukraine’s combat equipment is locally produced, which represents a significant step towards the autonomy of the defense industry, as reported by The Kyiv Independent.
Oleksandr Kamishin, advisor to the President of Ukraine on strategic issues, former Minister of Strategic Industries, and former President of the state railway company during the most challenging months after the Russian invasion, stated: "I don't know if the world could have somehow prepared for this war, but certainly our defense was not ready."
"If in 2023 we had to answer the main question - 'are we capable of producing them?', now the questions are more complex: 'how much and what kind do we need?, how to increase efficiency?' today, 'our defense industry is ready to fulfill the tasks set clearly and coherently."
"Today we have hundreds of drone and ground system manufacturers of different types (...) We need to open departments, specialties, faculties, this can be our superpower for the future. This war is an engineers' war. And today, the arms race is a very important element. It is not enough to have a technical solution, you must be able to apply it quickly," said the former Minister of Strategic Industries, according to lb.ua.
"You can't count how much we can produce"
One of Ukraine's biggest advancements in armaments is the production of FPV (First-Person-View) drones.
Kamishin announced that Ukraine has the capacity to produce 5 million FPV drones annually, emphasizing that "currently, a single manufacturer can produce 4,000 such drones per day."
"I'll say something unpopular now: we can no longer count how many drones we can produce," Kamishin said. However, he emphasizes, "the issue is no longer about quantity, but quality," highlighting that in FPV drone production, "we have reached a point where producing more is no longer the goal."
The Ukrainian official specified that currently, attention is focused on "the functions the drone possesses: frequency planning, thermovision, night vision, fiber optic drones, etc."
"Surpassing NATO"
In addition to drones, Ukraine has also accelerated the production of heavy armament. Kamishin emphasized that Ukraine now produces more "155 mm self-propelled howitzers than all NATO countries combined," according to the cited source.
These howitzers, a standard among NATO forces, were essential in countering the advance of Russian troops.
Thus, the Ukrainian defense industry, consisting of over 300,000 employees, is poised to become a driving force for Europe's rearmament after the conflict in Ukraine.
D.D.