The Russian Federation is catching up with Ukraine in the production of drones thanks to larger financial resources, production lines far from the front line and, especially, assistance from China. This is reported by Politico with reference to a high-ranking Ukrainian official, writes UNN.
Chinese manufacturers supply them (Russia - ed.) with equipment, electronics, navigation, optical and telemetric systems, engines, microchips, processor modules, antenna field systems, control boards, navigation. They use so-called shell companies, change names, do everything to avoid export controls and avoid sanctions for their activities. However, China officially adheres to all the rules. So far, only officially
Beijing has repeatedly denied supplying any drones or weapons components to Russia, calling Ukrainian protests "baseless accusations and political manipulation." But Alexandrov said Russia has a critical dependence on the supply of Chinese spare parts for both tactical and long-range drones.
This allows Russia to undermine Ukraine's leadership in drone technology and production – something that has helped Ukraine continue fighting at a time when it is suffering from ammunition shortages and slow arms deliveries from its allies.
Former senior military commander Pavlo Palisa, now Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, said that since the beginning of the year, 80 percent of the damage to Russian equipment and personnel has been caused by drones. In May alone, Ukrainian drones destroyed 89,000 Russian targets.
Ukraine managed to take the lead in the war with the use of drones in the early years of the war, producing up to 1 million tactical drones in 2024 and aiming to produce 2.5 million tactical and 30,000 long-range strike drones in 2025.
But Russia is catching up. Last week, Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv that Ukraine produces about 100 long-range drones a day, while Russia has managed to increase production to 300 a day and is aiming for 500.
Russian drone manufacturers managed to increase the production of long-range drones from 15,000 in 2024 to more than 30,000 this year, as well as up to 2 million small tactical drones, Alexandrov said.
The enemy is copying the experience of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and is actively scaling up its unmanned installations. Therefore, we must maintain the pace of development and constantly increase our capabilities to be one step ahead
Zelensky argued that Russia has far more financial resources, as well as access to Chinese technologies, such as its DJI Mavic drones, originally designed for the civilian market but widely used by both armies in the war.
They are so cheap and effective that they are used as artillery shells every day
Ukraine is responding to Russia's efforts by increasing production of newly developed interceptor drones used to shoot down Russian drones.
We are spending a lot of money. We are spending more today than we planned. Because everyone is developing. The Russians are developing, and our new technologies are appearing. But we have a positive outcome from this race if we find more funding
Moscow uses drones that operate via fiber optic cable instead of radio signals, making them invulnerable to electronic countermeasures. By using them, the Kremlin was able to largely destroy Ukraine's logistics routes in Russia's Kursk region and managed to drive most of the Ukrainian troops out of the territory they occupied during last year's surprise offensive.
Previously, Ukrainian troops could detect ordinary Russian drones as soon as they took to the sky, but this is much more difficult when drones operate through fiber optic cables.
They aim to produce about 30,000 long-range drones of these types, as well as 30,000 target drones, which they use to deplete Ukrainian air defense systems, in 2025. As for FPV drones, the Russians aim to produce a whopping 2 million of them in 2025
Supplement
The administration of US President Donald Trump redirects a key drone defense technology destined for Ukraine to the US military. This is reported by The Wall Street Journal, noting that this reflects the Pentagon's reduced commitment to Ukraine's defense.