Ukraine’s Combat Units to Receive $60 Million per Month for UAVs
Kyiv’s prioritization of its booming drone industry has been instrumental in the country’s ability to thwart Russian advances.
Nearly three years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, drone use continues to shape the conflict. Since February 2022, both Moscow and Kyiv have relied on an array of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to carry out their respective war agendas. Russian forces have notably acquired many of their most lethal drones from Iran, while Ukraine has deployed both domestically-produced and foreign-delivered aerial weapons more regularly. As the war rages on, Kyiv is set to allocate additional resources to maintain its drone stockpile. This week, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense revealed it would provide its combat units with $60 million of direct funding per month to acquire their own UAVs. According to Defense News, this move will allow for the rapid fulfillment of the combat units’ needs. Ukraine’s Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov added that “Commanders of the units will have the flexibility to use these funds to acquire the drones that are the most effective for carrying out mission requirements at the front, which marks another step towards building a highly flexible system to ensure the military has everything necessary for Ukraine’s defense.” Previously, these units had to rely upon centralized purchasing for essential equipment.
Why Ukraine needs more UAVs
Ukraine’s prioritization of drones was recently highlighted by the announcement that Kyiv would produce 4 million UAVs annually. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that Kyiv was quickly ramping up its production of these aerial weapons, which was virtually non-existent prior to Moscow’s invasion. In the same statement given by the Ukrainian president, it was also revealed that Ukraine had already contracted roughly half a million more drones in the first three quarters of 2024 than its original target.
Kyiv’s domestically-produced UAV arsenal continues to grow as local manufacturers race to develop more advanced designs. One of Ukraine’s most used UAVs is the Shark unmanned aerial system, developed by a combat drone manufacturer in Ukraine. Capable of detecting enemy radar stations or air defense systems, this UAV has an impressive range of 60km and has been nicknamed the “iPhone” by Ukraine’s combat units. The ALTIUS-600 UAV is another popularized Ukrainian drone, which can be integrated and launched from a range of military aircraft, ground vehicles, and even sea-based platforms.
Kyiv’s underwater drones are particularly lethal
Perhaps Kyiv’s most notorious UAV is a drone submarine nicknamed the “sea baby.” The volunteer group Ammo Ukraine designed the vessel, which has a range of nearly 600 miles and can carry out attack, transport, and reconnaissance missions. Last year, Kyiv’s fleet of Sea Babies wreaked havoc on the Russian Black Sea Fleet, inflicting serious damage to Moscow’s coveted warships. Last summer, an explosive-laden Sea Baby sank a Russian corvette, a landing ship, a patrol boat, and a tug boat during a raid on Crimean anchorages.
Clearly, Kyiv’s prioritization of its booming drone industry has been instrumental in the country’s ability to thwart Russian advances. With new resources being allocated to UAV procurement this year, Ukraine’s stockpile is about to get even bigger.
About the Author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin. Carlin has over 1,000 articles published over the last several years on various defense issues.
Image: Shutterstock.