[ad_1]
ARMS RACE
Russia has ramped up production of FPV drones this year. A Russian state-owned defence enterprise announced this May that it planned to start making up to 3,000 of the devices a month.
Samuel Bendett, Senior Adjunct Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said Russia had significantly boosted FPV production through volunteer groups, which alone were likely making many thousands of drones a month, as well as the defence sector which was also expanding production of such drones.
“This year was critical to the Russian efforts to field this tech in large numbers, and an even bigger effort should be expected in 2024.”
Ukraine’s government, meanwhile, has funded the production of larger, longer-range drones for reconnaissance and assault, but the vast majority of small, battlefield-level devices have been purchased throughout the war by civic organisations and donations from private individuals.
The pilots of the 80th Brigade say this is still the case, although the state is now supplying some FPV drones.
Ukrainian Digital Minister Mykhailo Fedorov told Reuters in September that Ukraine had boosted its overall aerial drone production by more than 100 times in 2023. Another minister said in October Ukraine would be making “dozens of thousands” of drones a month by the end of this year.
“We have trained people, motivated people. But sometimes we feel a deficit, and if the government gets large-scale manufacturing of these drones on the rails, the (balance of) the war will tip in our favour,” Yizhak said.
[ad_2]
Source link