Drone warfare in Ukraine: four and a half million drones and Ukraine-U.S. partnerships

Three key stories of the week: Mar. 12 - Mar. 18, 2025

Photo: Aerorozvidka via Mezha.Media

While Trump’s team is halting military aid to Ukraine and negotiating with Putin, the U.S. Department of Defense is showing interest in Ukrainian drone technology. It now works with two Ukrainian manufacturers to produce cost-effective, long-range drones. Last week, Ukraine also tested a new deep-strike UAV capable of reaching 3,000 km and potentially targeting Russia’s largest oil refinery in Omsk.

The previous strikes have put significant pressure on Russia’s energy sector, prompting Putin to secure a new agreement with Trump for an "energy infrastructure ceasefire".

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Two Ukrainian Companies Selected to Develop Drones for the US Army in Artemis Program (Tech Ukraine + other sources)

The Artemis program, initiated by the US Congress, aims to develop cost-effective, long-range drones. As a result of the Artemis project, the Defense Innovation Unit of the DoD aims to acquire ground-launched strike drones with a range of 50 to 300 km, capable of flying at low altitudes, carrying various payloads, and operating even in GPS-denied environments.

The entire process—from identifying the problem and conducting the tender to organizing demonstration flights—took only four months. In total, 165 proposals were evaluated, with 16 of the most promising concepts initially selected for demonstration, which took place in December of last year.

As a result of the tender, four contracts were awarded for the production of drone prototypes.

Two of the selected companies include the American firm AeroVironment, known for its loitering munitions like the Switchblade, as well as Dragoon. The other two companies are Ukrainian, though their names remain undisclosed for security reasons. However, it has been noted that they will collaborate with American software developers Swan and Auterion. The production rate of one of the Ukrainian companies selected to develop a prototype is approximately 200 drones per month.

The cost of "smaller drones" under the Artemis Program is initially planned to be under $20,000 per unit, while larger ones may cost up to $70,000. However, the final price will depend on factors such as payload capacity and the total number of drones ordered.

The goals of the Artemis project are directly tied to observations of current real-world combat conditions as well as feedback from end users across the Department of Defense (DoD) on what capabilities may be needed in this space to face near-peer threat capabilities around the world.

The WSJ reports, that the U.S. has the capacity to build up to 100,000 drones a year, according to one Defense Department estimate. Last year, Ukraine built more than 2 million drones. Ukraine has restrictions on drone exports (and all military exports). Ukrainian drone makers have organized to lobby Kyiv to end the ban on selling their drones outside the country and are joining their new U.S. partners to find workarounds.

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Ukraine Will Procure All Domestically Produced FPV Drones: What’s Behind the Plan to Produce 4.5 Million UAVs? (Bohdan Miroshnychenko for Ekonomichna Pravda. Available in Ukrainian)

In 2025, Ukraine plans to produce 4.5 million drones. As of January 2025, 49% of enemy equipment destructions were carried out using FPV drones. Ukraine aims to scale up the use of strike drones on the front lines, compensating for its other weaknesses.