Minister of Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin has said that Ukraine is producing dozens of so-called Ukrainian Shaheds per month, which are an alternative to Iranian drones.
The minister said this during the annual meeting of the European Business Association, Forbes Ukraine reports.
According to Kamyshin, the defence industry is currently making a significant contribution to the country's economic growth and should become its main sector in the future.
"Starting with what is called the Ukrainian Shahed, we do not disclose the name of this product, but we have launched its mass production and now (produce) dozens of them per month, continuing with many other items that we used to produce very little, and now we have decent figures," the minister said.
He added that a multiple increase in production does not always satisfy the government.
"We are satisfied with tenfold growth or more. We have such growth in many areas," he explained.
The minister noted that there is no question of business integration with Ukroboronprom, as state-owned plants are operating and investors are developing the private sector.
"Today, many drone companies have seen an opportunity to find resources at one of the state-owned plants that they cannot find on their own," he said.
For example, a service centre at a state-owned plant helps small private drone companies. According to Kamyshin, this is an example of how the state is using its resources to help them develop.
"In this regard, the Ukrainian Shahed appeared at a state-owned plant," the minister said.
In early November, the director of Ukrainian Defence Industry JSC, Herman Smetanin, announced the successful production of Ukrainian kamikaze drones, which can fly up to 1,000 km.
Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhaylo Fedorov said that the production of Ukrainian drones had increased more than 100 times over the year. According to him, the task of the Army of Drones for 2024 is to increase production so that each brigade and unit has a stable supply of UAVs.