The government has approved a bill to create the Unmanned Systems Forces within the Armed Forces, and allocated UAH 24 billion for the purchase of drones for the army, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Tuesday following a Cabinet meeting, UNN reports.
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Shmyhal pointed out that on the initiative of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a separate branch of the Armed Forces was created within the structure of the Armed Forces - the Unmanned Systems Forces. "Ukraine is the first country in the world to complete their manning. Ukraine has made a real breakthrough in the production and use of drones. The state has already contracted 1 million drones, and 500 Ukrainian companies produce UAVs," he emphasized.
Moving forward. The government fulfills the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and approves a draft law that legally establishes the existence of the Unmanned Systems Forces. Today we also allocate UAH 24 billion for the purchase of drones for the Security and Defense Forces
The prime minister emphasized that Ukraine relies on innovations, asymmetric responses and approaches in the war against Russia. "This is the key to our resilience and future victory," he said.
Taras Melnychuk, the government's representative in parliament, said in Telegram that the government "allocated UAH 24 billion for the purchase of defense equipment, including: UAH 12 billion to the Ministry of Defense (for the state enterprise of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine "Defense Procurement Agency" as a recipient of budget funds) to meet the needs of the Armed Forces; UAH 12 billion to the Administration of the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection with the subsequent transfer of such equipment in accordance with the established procedure to the management of the bodies that manage military formations.
According to Melnychuk, the government also approved the draft law "On Amendments to Article 3 of the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Armed Forces of Ukraine’. The draft law proposes to amend part one of Article 3 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Armed Forces of Ukraine" by including the Unmanned Systems Forces in certain branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.