"Production of up to 10 million drones per year": how Ukraine transformed drones into a central weapon of its army and now exports its know-how

The high production capacity and high field flexibility between different units have made Ukraine one of the leading powers in the “drone war”.To the point of exporting its expertise to other countries, it has never fought effectively with its own equipment.

"Production of 10 million drones a year": how Ukraine made drones a key military weapon and now exports its know-how

The Middle East has been burning for more than a month.This war between the United States, Israel and Iran confirms one thing: the centrality of drones in modern conflicts.

The Gulf countries are caught in the crossfire by several Iranian attacks, which are not carried out by ballistic missiles, but especially by drones.However, the cheap and easy-to-manufacture Shahed drones are expensive to intercept and require multiple anti-aircraft missiles for sometimes limited effectiveness.

Surprised by surprise, the countries of the region can count on a new ally, aware of this "drone war": Ukraine.Last week, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed defense agreements with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, after Ukrainian military experts were assigned to help attack Iran.

With its experience using drones and its growing arms industry, Ukraine is now establishing itself in the region not as a beneficiary, but as a supplier.

Ukraine's more than 1,500-day war effectively established drones' status as a primary weapon of modern conflict. According to the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), they will be responsible for 80 to 85 percent of frontline attacks by 2025, with more than 215,000 attacks occurring this summer alone, "fueled by a national ecosystem that favors fast, low-cost innovation."

Capable of producing "10 million" drones per year, Ukraine has established itself as a true "drone nation" developing its own military technologies in terms of communication, navigation and autonomy.Driven by electronic warfare and new realities on the ground, this rapid evolution is creating a gap with countries like the United States and hindering more challenging policies.

Defense One, a website specializing in military affairs, emphasizes that Ukraine's drone ecosystem makes it possible to implement a theory formulated by US Air Force Colonel John Boyd in the 1970s and 1980s that remains largely inapplicable to this day. It is a system that connects observation, analysis, decision-making and action at scale, with very fast information exchange between shop floor and production, almost faster thanother comparable models.

Wide range of drones

In the past four years, Ukraine has rapidly developed a wide range of drones, from reconnaissance to "kamikaze FPVs", including long-range strike and interceptor drones.According to a study by the Atlantic Council, an American think tank focused on international relations, FPV drones have become the central weapon in Ukraine, which is responsible for approximately 80% of Russia's losses and can maintain the front without combat weapons.

Cheap and mass-produced (up to 200,000 units per month in 2025, editor's note), they can destroy multimillion-dollar military equipment.However, Ukrainian drones are not standardized: each unit maintains complete tactical independence.Decision-making power belongs to those with the most up-to-date and relevant information.

Units select their own suppliers, and change suppliers based on demonstrated effectiveness, without waiting for approval from a Hierarchy committee or official.

In this process, "the military becomes the authority for allocating resources," DefenseOne says. There are no specifications, no multi-year contracts, no one to negotiate.Large sums of money are distributed according to results, not according to position or level of contract.

Ukraine therefore applies the principle of John Boyd: decision-making power must return to those closest to the "real-time" information.which attracted Shaheed's proven Iranian models.

A global change?

The situation is also closely watched in NATO and allied countries.For example, after the return of an Iranian decommissioned Shahed-136 drone, American engineers wasted no time: they took it apart, adapted it to American guidance and satellite communications systems, and deployed the LUCAS drone in about five months at a unit cost of $35,000, compared to more than $2 million for the Tomahawk.The problem was primarily organizational, not technical.wash

In Europe, too, the time has come to adapt.In early 2025, Saab, the Swedish Air Force and the Swedish Defense Equipment Agency (FMV) followed a similar approach with the Loke anti-drone system, developed and tested in just 84 days.Thanks to the use of proven components and a deviation from standard procedures, the system was already operational in April at Malbork Air Base, Poland.

Drones have revolutionized modern warfare by delivering rapid, cheap, and large-scale strikes in general.They disrupt the traditional balance by attacking critical infrastructure, ships or military bases, including non-state actors such as Hezbollah or the Houthis.

The talk notes that countering these asymmetric attacks, which exploit weaknesses in conventional defenses and decimate people and property, is difficult.The media also decides that drone warfare will impose a new analysis: fast, large-scale and low-cost, disrupting old military models, "farming and constant change will become central."