Ukraine to sharply raise purchases of home produced FPV drones in 2025
KYIV, March 10 (Reuters) - Ukraine plans to purchase around 4.5 million first-person view (FPV) drones in 2025, Kyiv's defence ministry said on Monday, more than doubling last year's rate as its war with Russia grows increasingly hi-tech.
Both sides have come to rely on cheaper and more effective alternatives to conventional artillery, and Ukrainian officials have said the majority of Russian troops and vehicles are now hit by drones.
In a statement, Hlib Kanevsky, director of the ministry's procurement policy department, said Ukraine last year had purchased more than 1.5 million such drones - 96% of them from Ukrainian manufacturers and suppliers.
"This year, the figures will be even higher, because the capabilities of the domestic defence industry in 2025 are approximately 4.5 million FPV drones," he said. "And the Ministry of Defence plans to purchase them all."
The ministry would allocate the equivalent of more than $2.6 billion for the plan, he said.
Small, inexpensive FPV drones are controlled by pilots on the ground and often crash into targets, laden with explosives.
Ukraine, which is seeking strong security guarantees from its partners before agreeing to any peace talks with Russia, is developing its own defence industry to wean itself off reliance on Western partners.
That effort also includes long-range drones and unmanned ground vehicles.
In a separate statement on Monday, Kyiv's top general Oleksandr Syrskyi said Ukrainian drones had destroyed 22% more targets last month compared to January, but added that Russian forces were also adapting.
"We simply have no right to lag behind the enemy in those areas of technological warfare where we should be arming and strengthening ourselves by our own resources," Syrskyi said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
6 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Minister asked to comment on detention of Irish politician in Egypt
The opposition politician said his phone and passport were confiscated on Friday before being put on a bus to Cairo airport for deportation. Kess Spear and Paul Murphy (Grainne Ni Aodha/PA) His partner, Councillor Jess Spear, appealed to Foreign Affairs Minister and deputy premier Simon Harris to make a public statement. In a statement, she said: 'Paul was detained for hours this afternoon and forced onto a bus to be brought to Cairo airport for deportation. Paul's phone has been taken but he was allowed to call me briefly this evening.' She added: 'It is a serious matter for a member of the Dail to be detained in Egypt and forcibly deported just because he was participating in a peaceful march to try and get humanitarian aid into starving people in Gaza. 'I appeal to the Tanaiste to make a public statement calling on the Egyptian authorities to release Paul and all the others detained and to let them continue their humanitarian mission to Gaza.' Mr Murphy flew to Cairo on Thursday and set off towards Gaza on Friday. Prior to his phone being taken, he said his passport had been confiscated by the Egyptian army along with the passports of other people in the group who were stopped. My bus and group of marchers has been stopped by the Egyptian authorities and our passports taken. They are telling us to get on a bus, but it is not clear where they will take us. We fear they intend to report us to stop us from marching to Gaza. — Paul Murphy 🇵🇸 (@paulmurphy_TD) June 13, 2025 He said those being detained were being asked to board a bus and he believed they were going to be deported. Mr Murphy told the PA news agency that several other Irish citizens were among those who have been stopped. In a video, he said: 'It's looking worrying that the Egyptian authorities are going to act to prevent our peaceful march to Gaza, to demand that Israel's blockade of humanitarian aid, of food, of water, of medical supplies, is ended. 'I'm just asking people to redouble their efforts, to get on to your own government, in Ireland's case get on to (Foreign Affairs Minister) Simon Harris, your local TD, ask them to pressurise the Egyptian regime to allow us to engage in our peaceful march.' He added: 'The world has watched a horrific genocide for the past 20 months. Since March, a total attempt of starvation. 'And that this is a peaceful march to demand that it be ended and demand that western governments stop their complicity.' Mr Murphy then posted a livestream video on X in which Egyptian authorities could be seen forcibly dragging some of the participants away from a sit-down protest. The livestream abruptly ended after his phone was taken, a People Before Profit spokesman said, adding that he had been put on a bus for Cairo airport. A post by an administrator on his X account says: 'We urgently need Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris to intervene, demand he is freed, his passport and phone returned and the protesters are allowed to peacefully march to Gaza.' On request for a comment, a spokesman for Mr Harris referred to a statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs. The statement said the department was 'closely monitoring the situation' along with its embassy in Egypt. 'Embassy officials are engaging with the relevant local authorities and are in contact with EU and other partners regarding the situation. Tanaiste Simon Harris (Liam McBurney/PA) 'The department is in contact with a number of citizens and is providing advice and guidance. 'As set out in our travel advice, the vicinity of the Rafah border crossing is particularly dangerous at the moment and the border crossing is currently closed.'
Belfast Telegraph
6 hours ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Minister asked to comment on detention of Irish politician in Egypt
People Before Profit-Solidarity TD (MP) Paul Murphy said he had been detained in Egypt while attempting to march to the Rafah crossing into Gaza as part of a large demonstration and effort to get aid into the region. The opposition politician said his phone and passport were confiscated on Friday before being put on a bus to Cairo airport for deportation. His partner, Councillor Jess Spear, appealed to Foreign Affairs Minister and deputy premier Simon Harris to make a public statement. In a statement, she said: 'Paul was detained for hours this afternoon and forced onto a bus to be brought to Cairo airport for deportation. Paul's phone has been taken but he was allowed to call me briefly this evening.' She added: 'It is a serious matter for a member of the Dail to be detained in Egypt and forcibly deported just because he was participating in a peaceful march to try and get humanitarian aid into starving people in Gaza. 'I appeal to the Tanaiste to make a public statement calling on the Egyptian authorities to release Paul and all the others detained and to let them continue their humanitarian mission to Gaza.' Mr Murphy flew to Cairo on Thursday and set off towards Gaza on Friday. Prior to his phone being taken, he said his passport had been confiscated by the Egyptian army along with the passports of other people in the group who were stopped. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. He said those being detained were being asked to board a bus and he believed they were going to be deported. Mr Murphy told the PA news agency that several other Irish citizens were among those who have been stopped. In a video, he said: 'It's looking worrying that the Egyptian authorities are going to act to prevent our peaceful march to Gaza, to demand that Israel's blockade of humanitarian aid, of food, of water, of medical supplies, is ended. 'I'm just asking people to redouble their efforts, to get on to your own government, in Ireland's case get on to (Foreign Affairs Minister) Simon Harris, your local TD, ask them to pressurise the Egyptian regime to allow us to engage in our peaceful march.' He added: 'The world has watched a horrific genocide for the past 20 months. Since March, a total attempt of starvation. 'And that this is a peaceful march to demand that it be ended and demand that western governments stop their complicity.' Mr Murphy then posted a livestream video on X in which Egyptian authorities could be seen forcibly dragging some of the participants away from a sit-down protest. The livestream abruptly ended after his phone was taken, a People Before Profit spokesman said, adding that he had been put on a bus for Cairo airport. A post by an administrator on his X account says: 'We urgently need Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris to intervene, demand he is freed, his passport and phone returned and the protesters are allowed to peacefully march to Gaza.' On request for a comment, a spokesman for Mr Harris referred to a statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs. The statement said the department was 'closely monitoring the situation' along with its embassy in Egypt. 'Embassy officials are engaging with the relevant local authorities and are in contact with EU and other partners regarding the situation. 'The department is in contact with a number of citizens and is providing advice and guidance. 'As set out in our travel advice, the vicinity of the Rafah border crossing is particularly dangerous at the moment and the border crossing is currently closed.'
Scotsman
9 hours ago
- Scotsman
How the UK could get dragged further into conflict in the Middle East
The Israeli assault on Iran should come as no surprise - there was hardly a better moment to strike Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... As the whole world knows by now, Israel launched a series of devastating attacks on Iran in the early hours of Friday, targeting nuclear facilities and the regime's leadership. Operation Rising Lion seems to have caught the Iranians wrong-footed. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Two hundred IAF warplanes were involved, and most interestingly a number of drones were launched by Israeli special forces from within Iran itself, in a pastiche of the Ukrainian drone attacks against Russian airbases a few days ago. Initial battlefield damage assessment suggests that the attacks were highly successful, although the full details will probably take some time to emerge. Amongst others, the head of the Iranian Republican Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, and Mohammad Bagheri, commander-in-chief of Iran's military, plus several senior figures in Iran's nuclear programme were killed. People look over damage to buildings in Nobonyad Square following Israeli airstrikes in Tehran, Iran. Iran's three top military generals were killed in the attacks that also targeted nuclear and military facilities | Majid Saeedi At a stroke Iran's senior military hierarchy has been eliminated. That Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni was not among them is only down to Israel, who probably thought his demise might be a step too far at this stage. The Israeli assault should come as no surprise to anyone. Iran is the fount of all evil in the region, and the writing has been on the wall for some time. The recent IAEA censure of Iran's nuclear programme and the withdrawal of some US personnel in the Middle East were dead giveaways. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Israel made no secret of its assessment that currently Iran is politically and militarily weak, and there was hardly a better moment to strike its nuclear facilities and leadership. And so it has come to pass. Where USA goes, UK will surely follow This episode in the long-running conflict between Israel and Iran looks like it might be a longer confrontation than previous ones. If it continues for any length of time, and if Iran carries through its threat to attack US bases as well as Israel in retaliation, then it seems to me inevitable that the USA will be drawn in. And where the USA goes the UK will surely follow. During the last tit-for-tat exchanges between the two Middle Eastern states RAF Typhoons were involved in knocking down incoming Iranian drones to defend Israel. I'd be most surprised if the same thing doesn't happen this time around. A woman chants slogans as people gather for a protest against Israel's wave of strikes on Iran in Enghelab (Revolution) Square in central Tehran | AFP via Getty Images In any case, and notwithstanding what David Lammy may say, the UK is already involved. Britain's retained bases in Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean include RAF Akrotiri, which is an important link in the communications chain to Israel and used by the UK, USA, and others for many years. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Plus it just so happens that the Royal Navy-led CSG25 task force, including aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales and her complement of F-35 fighter jets, is not so far away in the India Ocean and within range of Iran. And the Americans have long-range bombers on Diego Garcia. To survive Iran needs to stop being intransigent over its nuclear problem and compromise or else face the very real prospect of defeat and regime change.
