Millions of drones a year: Ukraine unveils its ambitious plan for 2026

Boyev outlined Ukraine's key defense priorities for the current year during a speech at the OFDEF conference, which focuses on coordinating defense support for Kyiv from partner countries.

"In the field of unmanned systems, Ukraine plans to produce more than seven million drones in 2026. Unmanned technologies have become the backbone of asymmetric defense and have made it possible to create a strike zone with a depth of up to 20 kilometers. The next goal is to expand this zone to 100 kilometers," he said.

The Deputy Minister named air and missile defense systems, along with missiles for them, domestically produced drones, and extended-range artillery ammunition as Ukraine’s key priorities for this year.

Drone production

Since the start of the full-scale war, Ukraine has significantly increased weapons production and the adoption of cutting-edge technologies that are already being used on the battlefield.

The share of weapons, equipment, and ammunition contracted by the Defense Procurement Agency from Ukrainian manufacturers rose from 46% to 82% compared with the previous year.

It is also worth noting that France and Ukraine are working on launching drone production for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which could be organized in both countries.

In addition, a Czech company, in cooperation with volunteers, is supplying Ukraine with fiber-optic FPV drones manufactured using technologies taken from captured enemy UAVs.

RBC-Ukraine has also reported on agreements reached with Denmark to launch a joint production line for long-range drones. Negotiations are also ongoing with the United States on a large-scale $50 billion deal to develop drone manufacturing.

According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a draft of this agreement has already been handed over to the US side, and the program could be launched after the war ends.