Production ramps up

Kiev relies more heavily on drones produced in-house

(Bild: Skyeton)

Ten men assemble drones under bright neon lights. It is forbidden to photograph their faces, and the exact location in the greater Kiev area must also remain secret. This is because the Skyeton company produces drones for the army in the fight against Russian aggressors. "This is a drone war," says Skyeton boss Andrij Fialkowsky.

Over the battlefields in the east and south of the country, both Ukrainian and Russian drones use high-resolution cameras to scout enemy positions. At night, the flying robots loaded with explosives try to hit targets far behind the front line.

Skyeton manufactures the Raybird surveillance drone, which can fly up to 2,500 kilometers in offline mode. Maxim Lewkiwsky, the company's technical director, is convinced that drones could be decisive for a Ukrainian victory. "The Russians have a huge advantage in terms of the amount of people, tanks, planes and money," he said in an interview with the AFP news agency. "So we can only win if we are technologically superior."

Own production ramps up
In view of the West's hesitant deliveries, Ukraine is trying to ramp up its own arms production. However, developing a modern weapons industry is a costly and long-term undertaking. For the time being, Kiev is relying on drones, which are relatively cheap and easy to manufacture. President Volodymyr Zelenskyi wants to have one million of them produced this year.

Ukrainian soldiers with a Raybird drone from Skyeton

(Bild: Skyeton)

Production in the country can react quickly to developments on the front, says Fialkovsky. "Nobody but us knows what equipment, what technologies we need." The technical director Lewkiwsky was himself in the military and Skyeton prefers to hire employees with combat experience.

Russia is trying to spy on and sabotage the Ukrainian defense industry. Applicants are therefore thoroughly checked at Skyeton, and production is spread across several locations. "We are constantly at risk of being attacked," says Lewkiwsky. Security is one of the biggest challenges facing the industry.

It's about the safety of the soldiers
Building drones is also about the safety of the soldiers who use them. At Skyeton, employees are currently testing how quickly the flying machines are ready for take-off. After all, every minute a soldier spends setting up in the field exposes him to enemy fire.

According to the authorities, the number of Ukrainian drone manufacturers has more than doubled to around 200 since the Russian invasion two years ago. "Last year there was a boom, they sprang up like mushrooms," says Wadym Junyk, chairman of the Association of Drone Manufacturers and co-founder of ISR Defense. Nevertheless, Ukraine is not yet self-sufficient in this area and has to import microcircuits, chips and batteries. "It is currently impossible to assemble a 100% Ukrainian drone," says Junyk.

Ukraine builds various models
Ukrainian production ranges from cheap kamikaze drones to sophisticated multi-purpose drones. The R18 from ISR Defense can drop explosives over enemy targets or transport supplies to soldiers on the front line. In June 2023, the Vampire combat drones from the company of the same name also delivered medicine and food to residents of areas in southern Ukraine that were flooded after the Kachovka dam was blown up.

It is a race for innovation between Ukrainian and Russian manufacturers. "They are learning to camouflage their drones better, and we are learning to recognize them better and render them harmless," says a spokesperson for Vampire, who does not give his name for security reasons.

For fear of providing Russia with valuable information, the producers are holding back on information about new products. Skyeton relies on artificial intelligence to improve navigation and detect enemy positions.

Junyk hopes that such innovations will help his country to compensate for other weaknesses, such as the lack of recruits. A single soldier can control a whole "swarm of drones", he says. "That's why we have to put all our efforts into this."