A record number of multicopters have been contracted for the front - the military will receive twice as many Mavic, Autel, and Matrice drones, and work is simultaneously underway on alternatives to Mavic with AI, Ukraine's Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov announced on Wednesday, UNN reports.
Following the instructions of the Ministry of Defense, the Defense Procurement Agency contracted a record number of multicopters in January and February. As a result, the military will receive at least twice as many of these drones as in the same period last year.
According to him, "this refers to Mavic, Autel, Matrice, and other multicopters that perform critical combat missions daily at the tactical depth of the front."
"The increased need for multicopters is a request from units. They are used for reconnaissance and fire adjustment at a depth of up to 5 km, hitting infantry with drops, mining routes, and increasing the accuracy of FPV drone operations," the minister reported.
According to Fedorov, "multicopter deliveries increased by 17% in February compared to January." "We managed to quickly conduct tenders and contract the necessary volumes. The military needs them in large quantities - during combat missions, units regularly lose these drones. An important task of the General Staff is to ensure effective distribution among combat units so that equipment quickly reaches where it is most needed," Fedorov noted.
At the same time, we are working on alternatives to Mavic using AI. We are already testing solutions that we will scale up at the front in the near future. This year, we are also significantly increasing purchases of key categories of drones and weapons: interceptors, FPV and fiber-optic drones, reconnaissance wings, and strike drones for operational depth. We have already formed an annual procurement plan to strengthen the Defense Forces.