Russia continues to scale up its production of unmanned aerial vehicles, particularly Shahed-type loitering munitions, while attempting to replace imported foreign components.

Source:Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU), in an interview with Suspilne, a Ukrainian public broadcaster

Quote: "Unfortunately, the Russian Federation can increase the pace of production of unmanned aerial vehicles of various types. I will give the main figures. They plan to produce 79,000 Shahed-type unmanned aerial vehicles in 2025. Breaking it down by type: Geran-2 – 40,000 units, Garpiya-1 – 5,700, Gerbera and other decoys – about 34,000. These are the plans that exist in the Russian Federation."

Details:Regarding how this production is being increased, Skibitskyi said that, first, the Russians have set up additional production lines in the cities of Izhevsk and Yelabuga. Next, they are trying to fully replace all of the imported components that they use.

Quote:"At present, the airframe is already theirs, the internal combustion engine they install is also theirs. The navigation system, except for chips and microelectronics, is Russian-made. Antennas – the same Kometa, if you have heard of it. These are the elements that make it possible to avoid the effects of electronic warfare systems."

More details:Skibitskyi stressed that Russia is thus trying to be self-sufficient in producing this type of weapon and has the potential to do so. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s task is to prevent this increase and, if possible, destroy the production facilities themselves. 

This is largely facilitated by long-range strikes deep into Russia.

Overall, he said that Ukraine’s military intelligence uses NATO standards for defining targets and tasking strikes. These allow both kinetic and non-kinetic strikes – that is, both long-range strikes and other means related to carrying out acts of sabotage and disrupting production.

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