Eurosatory 2026: Wartime iteration gives Ukraine an edge as future UAV exporter
95% of drones procured for Ukraine’s Defence Forces are domestically made, according to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. (Photo: Frontline Robotics)
As industrial-scale drone production proves its battlefield worth in Ukraine, what happens to that production capacity and knowhow once the guns fall silent – and is Ukraine about to become one of the world’s most credible UAV export partners?
The numbers coming out of Ukraine’s drone production lines no longer surprise. According to Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council (NSDC), the country now has the capacity to produce more than eight million first-person-view (FPV) drones per year, with FPV weapons estimated to account for around 60% of Russian army losses. Georgetown Security Studies Review has tracked monthly FPV production capacity rising from 20,000 units in 2024 to 200,000 by 2025 – a tenfold increase in 12 months.
That acceleration is mirrored in Western supplier data. Brian Young, senior VP of loitering munition systems at AeroVironment, the US developer of
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