KYIV, March 24 (Reuters) – At an unassuming industrial estate in northern Ukraine, two former Microsoft executives and a team of engineers are producing military drones that can travel over long distances and carry large payloads.
AeroDrone, which made crop-dusting drones prior to the war and now supplies Ukraine’s armed forces, makes unmanned aircraft that can carry up to 300 kilograms or fly up to several thousand kilometres in certain configurations.
As Ukraine seeks to narrow the yawning gap between its own military capabilities and Russia’s, Kyiv says it is expanding its drone programme for both reconnaissance and attacking enemy targets over an increasing range. It is hoping that domestic drone makers like AeroDrone will help it meet its ambitious goals.
The government is now working with more than 80 Ukraine-based drone manufacturers, Ukraine’s Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov told Reuters. He said Kyiv needs hundreds of thousands of drones, many of which it is looking to source from a rapidly-expanding domestic industry. Currently, the military operates dozens of models of domestic and foreign drones that fulfil a “wide spectrum” of roles, Reznikov said, in written responses to questions.
“Drones are potentially a game-changer on the battlefield in the same way that precise Western MLRS became last year,” Reznikov said, referring to Multiple Launch Rocket System weapons.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and other drones are only one element of a war that is currently dominated by artillery, infantry and missiles. Moscow has been able to pound targets across Ukraine with long-range missiles, which Kyiv lacks.
“It is not worth expecting parity in the near future,” Reznikov said on closing the armament gap. He added: “Russia is also working on improving its UAVs.”
