(Reuters) – Ukraine’s state-owned arms manufacturer plans to increase its overall output by 62% by year-end and has also begun serial production of an attack drone with a range of 1,000 km (620 miles), Ukroboronprom chief Herman Smetanin said.
Ukraine, locked in the second year of war with Russia, is watching closely for any signs that military supplies from the West might be faltering and is trying to increase domestic output of its own military equipment and munitions.
“If we talk about volumes, we will increase our output by 62% in the four quarters of 2023 compared to last year,” he said in an interview with the “Ukrainska Pravda” online media outlet.
Smetanin described serial production of “kamikaze” drones with a combat range of 1,000 km that he said was under way in cooperation with international partners.
“We have an analog of the Shahed (Iranian-made drones Russia uses for targeting facilities in Ukraine), and there are also more powerful models, because the Shahed does not fly so far. Now we are focused on producing more complex and expensive projects with high performance,” he said.
Kyiv also helps private ventures to scale up developments of FPV drones, Smetanin added.
As drones play a central role in the 20-month-old fighting, Kyiv plans to produce tens of thousands of drones every month by year-end.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; editing by Tom Balmforth and Sharon Singleton)
