Ukraine Set Up Its Own Production of Engines for Long-Range Drones

Two Ukrainian companies have set up a full cycle of production of engines for their long-range drones, but they do not yet fully cover the demand.

Ihor Fedirko, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Armaments Manufacturers Council, spoke about this in the Zbroya video project by Militarnyi.

According to Ihor Fedirko, despite the fact that the in-house production of engines does not yet fully cover the need, it is an important step forward. Having a ready-made production technology, it can then be adapted to different needs.

“We have at least two companies that fully manufacture their own engines for their long-range drones. That is, it is injection molding, all the galvanizing, everything is done by themselves. This is a huge achievement,” he said.

At the same time, he noted that Ukrainian manufacturers, even though they have established their own production of components, are highly dependent on foreign components.

“But we have a problem: we are completely dependent on the so-called dip-technology. That is, these are technologies that involve the element base itself – transistors, resistors, microchips. We don’t manufacture this. We are dependent on them,” he emphasized.

This is especially important in the context of China’s latest ban on the export of components to Ukraine.

“That is, conditionally, everything that goes to Ukraine is off limits. Absolutely. But, as the saying goes, even our colleagues who deliver these goods to us say: well, you can go through some country. And it works, but there are still questions about restrictions on shipments, double checks on shipments of these parts, where they go. So, with these checks, the delivery time is still increasing,” he says.

It is also known that Russia was planning to start assembling engines from Iranian off-the-shelf components for Shahed drones, and is also purchasing finished products from Iran and China.

According to The Wall Street Journal, citing reports for the US State Department and EU governments, China has become a key supplier of components for Russian Shahed-type attack drones.

According to the publication, from July 2023 to February 2025, Russia purchased more than 685,500 engine parts from Chinese companies for Drake LLC, a supplier of long-range drone components for the Alabuga facility.

China also supplies navigation systems and other critical elements used in the production of long-range drones.