Page 46 - bne IntelliNews monthly magazine September 2024

46 I Eastern Europe bne September 2024
Ukraine is ramping up its domestic production of drones, missiles and electronic warfare equipment with $7bn of investment in 2024.
the stand-off at the time, countering Russia’s superiority in heavy equipment and personnel.
The low tech of First Person View (FPV) unmanned drones lends itself well to this production, as they can be assembled in small workshops with relatively untrained technicians. The simplicity of drones also makes them affordable in comparison to Russia’s hypersonic new Kinzhal missiles that cost about $10mn each to make.
Pieter Wezeman, senior researcher
at the Stockholm International
Peace Research Institute (SIPRI),
told Al Jazeera that Ukraine’s drone production capabilities are grounded in its historical strengths. "After the fall of the USSR, [Ukraine] was one of few countries that had a functioning aircraft engine industry. They can use that knowledge to rebuild a missile or a drone production capacity. It’s not coming from nowhere," Wezeman said.
Ukraine's rapid expansion in drone production is already positioning it as a major player in the global market.
www.bne.eu
Oleksiy Danilov, head of Ukraine’s National Defence and Security Council, claimed that Ukraine is already among the top three drone manufacturers worldwide.
Russia has also focused on expanding its drone production and has already adapted the Iranian-supplied Shahed drones, improving on their performance
Russia should increase the production of drones more than five-fold in the coming years, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a strategic meeting dedicated to new national projects on August 287.
"In the coming years, it is important for Russia to continue actively creating its own technical and production base.
“The simplicity of drones also makes them affordable in comparison to Russia’s hypersonic new Kinzhal missiles that cost about $10mn each to make”
and lowering the cost of production. But Russia's plans to produce more than 32,000 drones annually by 2030 appear modest. Unable to keep pace with Ukraine's production, Russia has turned to Iran, agreeing to pay $1.75bn for 6,000 Shahed drones, according to information revealed
by Ukrainian hackers.
For example, by the end of the decade dozens of new technological chains are expected to be created in the chemical industry. In the field of composite materials – over 15 production facilities and 60 products. The production of drones should increase more than fivefold," the Prime Minister said.