Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have appeared in Ukraine, with a range of action from 700 km to 1 thousand km. The head of the Ministry of Digital Development of Ukraine, Mikhail Fedorov, stated this in an interview with the publication Die Welt on Monday, April 1st.
“Today the situation on the battlefield depends on the number of UAVs. <...> In some cases, drones have become a replacement for artillery. Of course, drones will not completely replace it, but to some extent they are already taking on its function,” he said.
The head of the Ministry of Digital Development of Ukraine added that the country is developing ground-based robotic systems and electronic warfare systems for drones. Developers are also experimenting with the introduction of artificial intelligence into the operation of UAVs – the first models may be presented by the end of the year.
In general, within a year in Ukraine they intend to create more than 1 million drones, including using artificial intelligence. Fedorov clarified that the production of long-range drones has already increased 10 times compared to the previous year.
Earlier on the same day, the General Director of the Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions (CDSS), which regularly studies captured drones of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Dmitry Kuzyakin, said that Ukraine has increased the production of FVP drones to 1 million, but they do not have the ability to set up the infrastructure for their delivery and preparation of calculations.
Before this, on March 28, journalist and editor-in-chief of the portal “Censor.Net” Yuriy Butusov said that the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky lied about providing the Ukrainian Armed Forces with drones. According to Butusov, the Ministry of Strategic Industry of Ukraine, in a report for the first two months of 2024, stated that 200 thousand drones were produced, but they arrived at the front in much smaller quantities.
In early January, military expert, retired colonel Anatoly Matviychuk said that Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers often assemble their UAVs from spare parts and components supplied by the West. One of these is, for example, “Baba Yaga”. He noted that this drone is an aircraft-type piston drone with a flight range of up to 300–400 km.
The special operation to protect Donbass, the beginning of which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was made against the backdrop of an aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
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