More than 500 companies are involved in drone production in Ukraine.

Mykhailo Fedorov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation, stated this in an op-ed on RBC-Ukraine.

The official noted that during the full-scale war in Ukraine, the defense tech market has developed from scratch. And it started with drones.

“More than 500 companies are already producing drones in Ukraine, and more than 240 developments have been codified,” Fedorov said.

He noted that in almost three years, copters that did not exist before have appeared in Ukraine.

These include naval drones, which are a separate genre, fiber-optic drones, the Ukrainian-made Mavic, and large strike drones, among others.

In particular, Ukrainian drone developers are assisted by the Brave1 Defense tech cluster, which provides expert support, helps with codification, and issues development grants.

Drones have transformed the modern battlefield, with reconnaissance UAVs adjusting artillery and precision weapons strikes, FPV drones hunting enemy armor and infantry, and long-range dipstrikes hitting important targets in Russia’s deep rear. The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has recently launched a new model for providing the Ukrainian Defense Forces with drones.

Brave1 will also launch an online platform to sell UAVs, communications equipment, and other technological products for the military.

According to Minister Fedorov, the military will be able to purchase drones, among other things, by spending points that will be awarded to units for the confirmed destruction of Russian equipment using drone video.

In addition, the Ukrainian company is developing Sky Hunter software that automates the downing of enemy drones by FPV drones and minimizes human involvement in the process.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently called on partners to invest in producing Ukrainian drones. During the Support Ukraine summit, the leaders who came to Kyiv on February 24 were presented various types of drones and their applications.