The Defense Forces are experiencing a shortage of FPV drones – BBC
The Ukrainian military is reporting a significant shortage of FPV drones, which is critically affecting the ability to deter Russian offensive operations, BBC Ukraine reports.
The publication recalled the words of the commander of the Third Assault Brigade (currently being reformatted into a corps), Andriy Biletsky, who stated that the brigade had not received a single FPV drone in three months .
The statement caused a stir and the brigade was allocated the necessary number of drones. But it did not solve the systemic problem.
UAVs are called the main means of destruction for the Defense Forces, ensuring the destruction of almost 80% of targets. However, despite official statements by officials about increasing the production of drones to 10 million units, many brigades are forced to purchase equipment independently or rely on the support of volunteers.
Today, nearly 500 UAV units operating in the Defense Forces have a mixed drone support model.
The commander of the 429th separate UAV regiment, Captain Yuriy Fedorenko (call sign "Achilles"), explained that about a third of the drones military units receive directly from the state, another third are purchased with money that went to the unit's account, and a third are drones received through the support of Ukrainians.
The main "sag" this spring occurred with the third that was supposed to be provided by centralized supply from the state.
Serhiy Varakin, commander of the unmanned systems battalion of the 58th separate motorized infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that a year ago his unit could afford to launch up to 100 FPV drones per day, but now it receives only 200–300 units per month, although the need is many times higher.
Maria Berlinska, a volunteer and head of the Air Intelligence Support Center, says that the problem arose due to a change in the leadership of the Defense Procurement Agency.
Instead, the AOZ actually denies the "slump" in the UAV procurement process this year. As of May 2025, the agency has concluded state contracts for over 2.3 million FPV drones, which exceeds the figures of previous years many times.
The publication also draws attention to the problem of selectivity in the distribution of drones between brigades, which also exacerbates the situation.
The military is complaining not only about the shortage of drones, but also about their deteriorating quality. Soldiers are forced to improve the FPVs they receive themselves, and the lack of reliability of fiber-optic drones is jeopardizing front-line operations.
Against the backdrop of these problems, Russia has been able to scale up production of FPV drones and effectively implement new technologies, including artificial intelligence in drone control. The Ukrainian command recognizes the challenges and declares its intention to correct the situation in the near future.
Recently, the AOZ announced that as of May 2025, it had concluded state contracts for 81% of the proven need for unmanned aerial vehicles for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.