Number of UAV crews in army increased sevenfold over year – Umerov

Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umerov held a working meeting with representatives of the Armed Forces, the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection, and the Ministry of Defense to discuss the supply of unmanned aerial vehicles to the Defense Forces.

Umerov wrote this in a post on his Facebook page, Ukrinform reports.

“We have conducted a comprehensive analysis of the data for each military unit, including the number of drones currently in use, those in storage, and those lost. "Based on these requests, the Ministry of Defense determines the needs of military units and coordinates the activities of the State Special Communications Service, which ensures the conclusion of contracts and the supply of drones to the army," Umerov said.

He also noted that in 2024, a substantial number of drones, including bombers, reconnaissance, FPV and other types of UAVs, had already been delivered to the army. This work is ongoing, even in light of market changes.

The meeting also addressed plans for December and the first quarter of 2025, including the provision of "night" drones and new DeepStrike drones capable of striking targets situated far behind enemy lines.

According to him, “almost 30,000 of these drones have already been contracted.”

“Thanks to systematic work, the number of UAV crews in the army has increased sevenfold over the past year. This demonstrates the significant and rapid growth of the role of drones in modern warfare. Providing the brigades with drones is our priority, and the Ministry of Defense team is making every effort to ensure that these supplies remain uninterrupted,” the minister said.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the Ministry of Defense handed over more than 1.2 million drones of various types, including reconnaissance, strike and FPV drones, to the Defense Forces in January-November 2024.

Photo: Rustem Umerov, Facebook