Aerorozvidka Co-founder: Ukraine Used 400 Types of Drones in May

In May 2025, the Ukrainian Defense Forces deployed 400 distinct types of drones in their efforts to counter Russian aggression.

The figure was shared by Yaroslav Honchar, co-founder of the NGO Aerorozvidka, during an interview on Militarnyi.

According to Honchar, the drones represented various stages of development – from mass-produced systems to prototypes undergoing field testing, some of which are now being evaluated in real combat conditions.

Yaroslav Honchar explained that, overall, these drones fall into three major groups:

1. About 50% are models that have undergone testing in combat conditions;
2. About 30% are products at various stages of production that have already started being delivered to the troops;
3. About 20% are mass-produced models, which account for approximately 70% of the successful strikes.

“In May alone, 400 different unique types of drones were deployed. Of these, about 50%, roughly 180 and some, carried out fewer than 10 strikes. These are drones in test operation mode, trying things out. My conclusion is that these are models undergoing trials and have now reached the next stage of development, where it’s time to test them in real user conditions,” commented Yaroslav Honchar, co-founder of the NGO Aerorozvidka, regarding the number of drones deployed in May that reached the stage of combat testing.

He clarified that this referred exclusively to strike drones and did not include other types such as reconnaissance drones or those used for other purposes.

“About 50% with fewer than 10 strikes are still trying to improve something, trying to figure things out,” he added, referring to the drones in the test operation phase.

The other half of the deployed strike drones are models that have passed the testing phase and are actively operational.

“The top 20 percent of drones account for 70 percent of all the work. About 30 percent are the ‘middle tier’ – these are developers and startups that are beginning to reach production levels, supplying in batches measured at least in the tens,” said Yaroslav Honchar.

By outlining this distribution of 400 types of strike drones, he confirmed that the industry in Ukraine continued to grow, with new models still emerging and evolving.

“What I see on Brave1, as an expert, is that the ideas haven’t run out, and worthy concepts keep coming,” noted the co-founder of the NGO Aerorozvidka.

The full interview with Yaroslav Honchar, co-founder of Aerorozvidka, is available on our YouTube channel: