The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense’s procurement plans envisage equipping the armed forces with around 200,000 unmanned systems per month by 2025. This includes the entire range of drones for air (UAV), ground (UGV) and sea (USV) applications.
Hlib Kanevsky, Director of the Procurement Policy Department at the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, emphasizes that over one billion euros are earmarked exclusively for the purchase of FPV drones, including fiber optic models. While the focus in 2024 was on long-range systems, the focus in 2025 will be on strengthening tactical drone capacities.
Focus on drone logistics
At a meeting with leading manufacturers, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense pushed for faster delivery of FPV drones. The aim is to keep the time between production and deployment in combat units as short as possible.
This development reflects not only the expansion of production capacities, but also the growing number of specialized forces. Ukraine has now completely overcome the previous shortage of FPV drones at the turn of 2023/24.
Experienced teams carry out up to 30 FPV missions a day. Units that continue to complain about shortages face internal accusations of poor command, fraud or disinterest. With an average cost of 500 euros for a radio drone and 1,000 euros for a fiber optic drone, the expected number of FPV drones in 2025 is 1 to 1.5 million. This corresponds to three to four drones per front kilometer and day.
Rapidly growing UAV forces in Ukraine
According to current estimates, the Ukrainian “Unmanned Systems Forces” (Syly bezpilotnykh system, SBS) comprises around 5,000 soldiers. In addition, there are other specialized units for drone warfare that are not directly part of the SBS. The exact number of FPV teams in the Ukrainian armed forces is not known, but is likely to be in the hundreds.
The largest UAV units are currently brigades. Known are the 9th, the 59th “Yakiv Handziuk”, the 414th “Magyar” and the 383rd. Designated UAV regiments are the 14th, the 20th “K-2”, the 411th “Hawk”, the 412th “Nemesis”, the 425th “Ochi”, the 427th “Rarog” and the 429th “Achilles”. There are also a number of battalions and many even smaller units.
The world according to FPV
The mass use of FPV drones in the war between Ukraine and Russia (-> current news from the Ukraine war) has fundamentally changed modern warfare. Experts are already talking about a turning point – a division between warfare before and after the advent of FPV drones. A technological regression to motorized and mechanized columns seems unthinkable.
Military IT and microelectronics are no longer exclusively the product of gigantic defense companies. Innovations are increasingly being created in civil society, driven by agile developers and start-ups.
Bundesheer: Jetpiloten-Ausbildung kostet 17 Millionen in zwei Jahren
The classic military strategy, in which attack arrows surround a target from two directions, is losing momentum. FPV drones attack the visible logistics and thus block the engine of this pincer movement.
A recently captured Russian soldier reported in an interview about his experiences at the front: until his capture, he had not seen a single Ukrainian soldier with his own eyes – only drones.
Here to our drone topic area with all the latest news on the subject.
