Ukraine has already ordered interceptor drones worth over UAH 3 billion – Shmyhal

Ukraine has already ordered interceptor drones worth over UAH 3 billion under four contracts, according to a statement by Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal.

"The state is developing the market for Ukrainian interceptor drones. Yesterday, three manufacturers received contracts. In total, we already have 4 contracts worth over UAH 3 billion. We will continue to scale these technologies," the report said.

The head of the defense ministry also noted that, together with First Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, he met with the Brave1 cluster, the Ministry of Digital Affairs team, drone manufacturers, and the largest volunteer foundations in Ukraine. According to him, the focus was on providing Ukrainian soldiers on the front line with drones.

"A lot of attention was paid to interceptor drones that are capable of countering Russian "shaheds". The president set the task of developing this direction. And we already have four state contracts with manufacturers. This week we also talked with large state banks about lending to manufacturers under state guarantees," Denys Shmyhal noted.

The Defense Minister also announced that the defense department is negotiating with partners to attract funding for the purchase of such interceptors. According to him, the first agreements have already been reached.

Recently, the director of the Defense Procurement Agency, Arsen Zhumadilov, stated that the Agency had contracted tens of thousands of interceptor drones.

Earlier, the head of the KMVA, Timur Tkachenko, announced the launch of a "full-fledged" system for intercepting enemy drones flying over Kyiv. According to him, UAH 260 million will be allocated for the implementation of the initiative.

By the way, the Ukrainian company Odd Systems announced a strategic partnership with the Danish defense concern Terma Group to work together on a low-cost drone interceptor based on artificial intelligence.