Ukraine is capable of producing significantly more than one million drones a year, and current production is already ahead of schedule. This was stated by Deputy Minister for Strategic Industries Hanna Hvozdyar during a teleconference, Kommersant Ukrainian reports 
“Everyone was very impressed by the president’s phrase about a million [drones per year for the Armed Forces – ed. However, I can assure you that we are far beyond a million in terms of production. I am sure that this year we will reach the two million mark,”
– she said.
According to her, about 200 companies are working on the development of drones in Ukraine.
“Today we have about 200 companies working on the production of various types of drones. About 60 companies are involved in government procurement. However, procurement is ongoing, and we are talking about even more companies being involved in procurement,”
– hvozdyar said.
Ukrainian drones are even being offered to NATO for purchase, so that the Alliance can then give them to Ukraine:
“All this requires funding. Our minister has made a proposal to NATO, which wants to give us a million drones: it would be nice if they could buy them in Ukraine.”
The day before, Prime Minister Shmyhal said that the Ukrainian market was ready for one million drones.
A million drones and the modernisation of the army
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.