Ukraine is preparing for a longer war – increasingly with its own weapons. Drones, air defense and long-range missiles play a role.
Kiev – In the new year 2024, Ukraine must also defend itself in the war against the Russian invaders. Kiev can and wants to increasingly resort to its own weapons. In his New Year's address, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Moscow about the power of “domestic” weapons production. Ukraine will have at least “a million” additional drones in its arsenal in 2024, Zelensky said on Sunday (December 31, 2023). Moscow's armed forces would see “what our true anger looks like,” assured Zelensky, whose televised address was accompanied by images of Ukrainian artillery and warplanes.
Ukraine war: weapons production planned to increase sixfold
There are also F-16 fighter jets supplied by Western partners. “Our pilots are already proficient with the F-16 fighter jets and we will definitely see them in our skies.” In recent months, Zelensky has repeatedly called on his Western partners to maintain their support. “Ukrainians are stronger than all intrigues, all attempts to weaken global solidarity and undermine the coalition of our allies,” the Ukrainian president said in his New Year's address.
As the Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine said, Kiev's weapons production is planned to increase sixfold next year. The defense industry should become “the engine of economic recovery,” said Oleksandr Kamyshin at a press conference on December 27, 2023.
Long-range missiles? Ukraine minister “probably will never talk about it”
In view of massive Russian attacks around the turn of the year, the topic of air defense is high on the agenda. “We took our Soviet systems, integrated them with our Western partners along with Western missiles and Western launchers, and got a new hybrid air defense system at the target,” he said. The development of a new system would take five years, but Ukraine would not wait that long. “We develop our systems: large, complex, expensive and long-term.” These solutions had already produced results in the winter.
However, Kamyshin remained silent about long-range missiles. “This is the most secret and important program in Ukraine. “I’ll probably never talk about it,” he admitted. Even five years after the end of the war, it would not be worth revealing details about where and which factories made the missiles, he added.
Ukraine is building its own versions of Shahed drones
He was more willing to provide information on the subject of Ukrainian drones. He reported a “painful story.” Although Ukraine has developed drones with a range of more than a thousand kilometers since 2016, for some reason they have not been mass-produced. That changed in August 2023, when Kiev “started mass production.” “Today we produce dozens of them a month,” he explained.
According to him, there are already “Ukrainian Shaheds” – analogues of Iranian drones, which the Russians are actively using to attack civilian and military objects. “We have more than five analogues of Shahed-131 that are in mass production, and there is one [Drohne], which is an analogue of Shahed-136. In this regard, you can choose any position, and they are all serial products, both mass-produced and improved,” revealed Kamyshin. Ukraine recently introduced a new drone. Ukraine is the first army in the world to have its own drone squadron.
Kiev will enter its third year of war in 2024. Despite having billions of dollars worth of Western weapons, Ukraine failed to make a significant breakthrough against Russian troops in the counteroffensive launched in the summer. On Friday, at least 39 people were killed in one of the most massive waves of Russian attacks since the start of the war. (cgsc with dpa)
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