Ukraine is ready to produce and supply one million drones to the frontline. This was stated by Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, according to Kommersant Ukrainian 
“In 2024, we took quite significant steps to strengthen our own arms production. The President set a target of 1 million drones. We understand that business and the market in Ukraine are already ready to produce more than a million drones. We will, of course, buy everything that our business can produce in order to transfer it to our Defence Forces,”
– the Prime Minister said.
He added that the government has allocated about UAH 40 billion for the production of drones. In general, according to the official, the government is trying to spend 50% of the funds allocated for the purchase of equipment on contracts with Ukrainian manufacturers.
One million drones and army modernisation
The decision to maximise state support for drone production was made in March 2023, when the government approved a resolution. Since then, the Ministry of Digital Transformation has been actively working to expand production, provide maximum support to drone manufacturers, and remove bureaucratic obstacles to the creation of UAVs. Recently, Minister Fedorov launched the People’s Drone initiative, under which every citizen can assemble a drone at home at their own expense.
In late 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed confidence that Ukraine would produce one million drones for the frontline by 2024, referring to FPV drones. Minister Fedorov responded with assurances that this target would even be exceeded.
In his last article in the Western press on the eve of his dismissal from the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi emphasised the need for a technological breakthrough in the army, with a particular focus on unmanned technologies. The Commander-in-Chief claimed that it would take only 5 months to reorient the army to unmanned systems.
After his dismissal, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed the government to work on the creation of a separate type of troops in the Armed Forces – the Unmanned Systems Forces.