Kremlin ramping up drone production to offset impacts of protracted war effort - ISW

The Kremlin continues to signal its commitment to improving Russian drone operations in Ukraine and drone production capabilities amid efforts to offset the social and economic impacts of a protracted Russian war effort.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank said this in a new report, Ukrinform reports.

According to the report, Russian leader Vladimir Putin met with Russia's Military-Industrial Commission on September 19 and discussed ongoing efforts to increase Russian drone production. He acknowledged that drones are an integral part of modern warfare and that Russia's war in Ukraine has further confirmed this assessment.

Putin claimed that Russian companies delivered roughly 140,000 drones to Russian forces in 2023 and claimed that Russia plans to increase its drone production by ten-fold (to 1.4 million drones) in 2024.

He emphasized that Russia must "consistently" increase its drone production capabilities and improve the effectiveness of Russian-produced drones in order to meet the needs of the Russian military.

In addition, Putin said that privately produced drones are not "inferior" to drones produced by state defense companies and that the Russian Ministry of Defense extensively tests all drone models before transferring the drones to frontline Russian forces.

Putin's claims that Russian plans to increase the drone-production to 1.4 million drones in 2024 is slightly lower than planned Ukrainian drone production rates in 2024, ISW analysts said.

ISW experts referred to a DW investigation that observed evidence that suggests that some Russian irregular forces may be testing newly-developed drones in strikes on Ukrainian civilians, possibly to speed up the testing periods.

At the same time, Russian milbloggers have consistently complained about the poor quality of state-produced drones and often praise private drone production initiatives for producing more effective drones.