Earlier this week, Ukraine was subjected to one of the largest aerial assaults by Russia since the start of Vladimir Putin’s invasion over four years ago. Overnight from Monday into Tuesday, Russia sent 73 missiles and 656 drones into Ukraine, killing at least 21 and injuring dozens across the country.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, this strike was retaliation for a Ukrainian attack on a vocational school in the occupied region of Luhansk on 22 May. But, as the Kremlin’s war grinds on well into its fifth year, it also appears to signal a step change in how the Russian armed forces are choosing to fight.
Data published by the Russian Federal Statistics Service has revealed that the Russian aircraft sector – responsible for producing both manned military aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – is booming. Output in the industry increased 117 per cent in April (the month for which the latest numbers are available) compared to the year before, with a growth spike of 78 per cent in the first four months of this year alone.
Russia has, in other words, drastically expanded its domestic drone production in the past year. According to the Ukrainian armed forces chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, Russia is planning to manufacture 7.3 million first-person view drones and 7.8 million warheads for unmanned aerial vehicles of various types by the end of the year. If the aircraft sector meets these targets, that would equate to producing 20,000 new drones a day.
