The United States currently significantly lags behind Ukraine in the production of combat drones and is only at the initial stage of developing its own drone industry. This was stated by Travis Metz, Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit, reports UNN citing Reuters.
Details
According to him, this situation has arisen even though the U.S. government has tightened rules requiring domestic drones to be made from American-made components.
Metz emphasized that Ukraine currently produces up to seven million small attack drones per year, or approximately 500,000 per month. For comparison: a Pentagon program worth $1.1 billion provides for orders of just under 200,000 drones by February.
"It is much more difficult to go from zero to 200,000 than to increase production volumes after a country already has the corresponding potential,"
He added that components that are more difficult to obtain, including semiconductors, remain a much bigger problem for the U.S. beyond drone development. At the same time, he expects that the U.S. will eventually be able to compete with the Ukrainian drone industry.
"I see no reason why we shouldn't... be world champions in this as well," Metz added.
Reminder
Fire Point produces 100 long-range Flamingo missiles and thousands of drones every month. Its products are used in daily attacks on targets in the Russian rear.
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