Ukraine ramps up arms production, can produce 4 million drones a year

2/10/2024 17:31

        Ukraine can produce four million drones annually and is quickly ramping up its production of other weapons, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in comments authorised for publication on Wednesday.
        
        Speaking on Tuesday to executives from dozens of foreign arms manufacturers in Kyiv, Zelenskiy said Ukraine had already contracted to produce 1.5 million drones this year.
        
        Drone production was virtually non-existent in Ukraine before Russia's invasion in February 2022.
        
        Ukraine tripled its overall domestic weapons production in 2023 and then doubled that volume again in just the first eight months of this year, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told the same gathering. Ukrainian officials gave no absolute figures.
        
        More than 31 months into its war with invading Russian forces, and with no end in sight, Ukraine now spends roughly half of its state budget - or about $40 billion - on defence.