Ukraine has started mass production of Shahed-type kamikaze drones - Kamyshin

Ukraine has started mass production of its own version of Shahed.

Source. This was announced by Minister for Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin during the annual meeting of the European Business Association.

Source: Forbes

According to the Minister, the production of such drones has reached dozens of units per month.

"Starting with what is called the Ukrainian Shahed, we do not say the name of this product, but we have launched mass production of it 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 numbers," the minister said.

Kamyshin emphasized that a multiple increase in production does not always satisfy the government. "We are satisfied with a tenfold increase or more. We have such growth in many areas," he explained.

The minister noted that there is no question of integrating business 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 center at a state-owned plant helps small private drone companies. According to Kamyshin, this is an example of how the state helps to develop with its resources.

"In this regard, the Ukrainian Shahed appeared at a state-owned plant," the minister said.

The development of a kamikaze drone capable of flying 1,000 kilometers was announced by the former management of Ukroboronprom at the beginning of the year. The product was only at the testing stage at the time.