March 24, 2026:
Later this year Ukraine begins producing their own drones to replace the Chinese models or designs Ukraine has been using since 2014, when Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula and portions of two provinces in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian drone designs are based on years of combat experience with drones and will include features that enable special hunter-killer units to use these drones to more frequently blind and kill Russian drone operators.
In 2023, a year after Russia invaded Ukraine, the Ukrainians were building their own drones from foreign parts, often at home or scattered workshops. By late 2024, Ukrainians were producing over 150,000 drones a month. In 2025, Ukraine produced about four million drones.
Last year China stopped selling drones and drone components to Ukraine. Ukraine’s solution was to ramp up production by its domestic drone manufacturers and obtain more drones and parts from the United States and NATO countries. These drones aren’t as rugged as the Chinese Mavic 3 and 4 models, but they were meant to provide an adequate temporary solution. China banned the drones to help Russia, but the Russians are losing the war and probably won’t last beyond 2027.
One result of the Ukraine War was the emergence of inexpensive drones as a decisive weapon, as well as a reconnaissance and surveillance system. Drones have been around for decades, but they were complex, expensive, and difficult to operate. That changed in the 1990s when General Atomics introduced its one-ton Predator drone. These were widely used by American and allied forces, along with the larger 4.2-ton Reaper. The second stage of the revolution came in 2016 when the Chinese firm DJI introduced the Mavic quadcopter drone. These were cheap, costing from $300 to thousands of dollars, depending on accessories. By the 2020s, most quadcopter drones cost about $500. More importantly, suppliers provided drone components, so you could build, and often design, your own.
In 2023, a year after Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukrainians were building their own drones, often at home or in scattered workshops. By purchasing Chinese components in bulk, thousands of Ukrainian men and women were building these drones for the armed forces or for someone they knew in the military. Troops at the front also build and modify drones to fit their immediate situations. For the soldiers, designing better drones is often a matter of life or death.
The Ukrainians have stayed ahead of the Russians in drone technology and production. The Russian government discourages or even outlaws individuals building drones and instead centralizes drone production. This is the Russian way of war, which gives the Ukrainians an edge in drone quantity and quality. The Ukrainians are defending their homeland, while Russia is having an increasingly difficult time justifying continued fighting, with over 1.3 million Russians killed or disabled in Ukraine.