Latest news with #Vyriy
Forbes
08-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Ukraine Is Making FPV Drones Without Chinese Parts And At Lower Cost
Ukrainian Vyriy Drones now make FPV drones entirely from Ukrainian parts At a time when reducing imports and building national capacity is become ever more important, Ukraine has achieved what seemed impossible: producing drones using entirely locally made components. This gives them an unrivalled ability to develop and mass produce drones to their exact requirements. More surprising is the cost. Rather than adding a premium, by building locally the Ukrainians are actually undercutting Chinese makers. Last month, Ukrainian makers Vyriy Drone performed an official handover of the first batch of 1,000 'all-Ukrainian' FPV drones. A company spokesman said the government did not demand local production, but it has been one a long-term company goal. Vyriy Drones have been making FPVs for over two years. The spokesman noted that Vyriy make their own frames, initiation boards, flight controllers, and radio control systems, and that other components including cameras and video transmitters and cameras are sourced from Ukrainian companies. It is important to note that some of the electronic chips in that make up devices may in fact come from China or other countries. But these are simple building blocks, commodity products which can be sourced from the U.S. and Japan. They are very different to specialist end products for drones like flight controllers. Dr Oleksandra Molloy of the University of New South Wales is the author of a study for the Australian Army Research Centre on lessons learned from the war in Ukraine. This highlights the importance of sovereign drone production. 'While since the start of the war most of the components were brought from China, most of them now are produced locally,' Molloy told me. 'Ukrainian manufacturers are constantly looking for components to improve them.' China is reportedly tightening export controls on the sale of components used in drone production. Cutting China out of the supply chain removes a critical dependency. Graph from Serhii Flash showing how Ukrainian made drone components have become progressively ... More cheaper over the last two years The locally made drones cost less than those made with Chinese parts thanks to concerted efforts by local companies to produce specific components, 'Initially, there was a generally accepted opinion that China could not be beaten on price,' Ukrainian analyst Serhii Flash wrote on his Telegram channel. 'Never. But competition, time, volumes, optimization of business processes work wonders. ' Flash shares a graph showing how the prices of various locally made components including motors, frames and propellers have dropped an average of around 50% over the last two years. Frames and propellers are relatively easy to make without a major investment in production machinery. Other components are more challenging. In 2024 we reported on how Ukrainian makers Wild Hornets were making their own flight controllers on a robotic assembly line,and later set up a similar process to make their own drone batteries. Specialist companies have gone further. Thermal imagers are a particular challenge, and FPV makers have spent considerable time and effort finding Chinese suppliers who meet their requirements for cost and capability. In other countries, the defence sector makes it own high-end thermal imagers and price is not a factor. Drone makers are on a tighter budget. A $2,000 military imager is not a viable proposition for a $400 FPV, In October 2024 Ukrainian start-up Odd Systems announced that they were producing locally-made thermal imagers. These are comparable to Chinese 256x192 pixel imagers, but about 20% cheaper at $250. Odd Systems say they when they can make their Kurbas-256 in volume the unit price will drop even further. Comparison of Kurbas-256 thermal imager with Chinse commercial products Importantly the Kurbas-256 is designed for FPVs rather than general industrial use. The developers talked to users about their combat experience with commercial Chinese thermal imaging cameras and modified their design accordingly. For example, some Chinese cameras suffer from condensation forming inside them, making them unusable, so Kurbas cameras come in a sealed unit sealed to prevent condensation. 'We studied the experience and considered the wishes of FPV operators. We have created a Ukrainian product with full control of hardware and low-level software,' the company told Militaryni. For example, the operator can adjust the output of the Kurbas-256 in flight, changing contrast for a clearer image depending on conditions. Also, most thermal cameras have automatic calibration which sometimes freezes the image for several seconds. This is not an issue for most applications but disastrous on a drone, so Odd Systems' cameras do not have this 'feature'. As well as providing benefits at the micro scale of drone operation, local production is critical on the macro scale of defence procurement. '[Sovereign drone production capability] allows for a faster cycle of innovation and adaptation, via fast response to the needs of the military, and fast implementation of the required,' says Molloy. 'Local production makes it possible to control all aspects of the technological process, including improvement and adaptation to the specific military needs of the country, and reduce the risks of defective parts.' Ukrainian FPV drones lie ready for handover. Large scale production is a now a critical national ... More capability It also means not being forced to rely on, for example, China. 'Domestic production mitigates vulnerabilities associated with international supply chain disruptions and potential political constraints on foreign procurement,' says Molloy. And, as seen in Ukraine, it can mean getting more drones for less. Molloy notes that other countries are now starting to wake up to the importance of local production, many of them gaining directly from Ukraine's experience.. 'In Europe, for example, many countries are investing in establishing joint manufacturing of UAV components,' says Molloy. 'This has become possible through collaboration between manufacturers and local businesses. Many countries, including UK, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Netherlands learn lessons from Ukraine and collaborate with Ukraine, while stepping up own production of UAVs and their components. ' Countries like Australia and the U.S. are investing in drone technology, but not on the scale that many would like to see. Last year, George Matus, CEO of Teal Drones, argued that the U.S. could transform drone infrastructure for the price of one F-35. This has not happened yet, though clearly there is a renewed emphasis in reducing mports. On April 7thy Twitter/X user Naval posted that 'Any country that can't manufacture its own drones will be a vassal state' - a sentiment greeted with a bullseye emoji by Elon Musk. Ukraine is on course to produce over four million drones this year. A steadily increasing proportion of these will be made from local components. With drones already inflicting the majority of combat losses, this production will be the cornerstone in the war effort against Russia. After the war, Ukrainian drone production may become a significant export earner, as other nations without this sort of production capacity scramble to build their own drone arsenals.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
10 Ukrainian drone makers to watch
In the three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion, Ukraine has almost certainly become the largest producer of drones in the Western-aligned world. Early workshop tinkering on mainly commercial Chinese drones evolved into steadily more professional and massive production of domestic unmanned aerial systems (UAVs). The industry's rapid growth has given Ukraine a fighting chance against a much bigger enemy, making drones a source of national pride. Details on the drone industry and its producers are hard to come by. Russia constantly targets weapons factories and even drone executives personally. But some drone makers are already clearly big businesses. Based on knowledge both publicly and privately sourced, the Kyiv Independent has assembled a list of makers ranging from mass-produced first-person view (FPV) drones to highly secretive deep-strike UAVs that we believe to be the biggest game in town. Going forward, many of these drone makers hope to sell their wares abroad once export controls are lifted, or the war comes to an end. Those looking to sell abroad are keen to headline non-lethal drone models like intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) or cargo drones, which face fewer restrictions than those more clearly designed to blow things up. Here are 10 of Ukraine's drone makers to look out for, in no particular order: Taking its name from a paradise in pre-Christian Slavic mythology, Vyriy produces what one long-time drone pilot describes as the best FPV he's ever worked with, the Molfar. The small and cheap Molfar has been in use since at least the start of 2023. For massive FPV makers, what's tricky is producing swarms that function reliably. By reputation, Vyriy manages as well as anyone. The firm is working to onshore production but cites a continued financial dependence on Chinese components that afflicts the drone industry worldwide. Notably, Vyriy's drones operate on low-frequency channels. Prior to 2022, most drones ran on 2.4 or 5.8 gigahertz (GHz) communications. Those channels are easily jammed by Russian electronic warfare systems at the front, so many operators, including Vyriy, have lowered their frequencies to under 1 GHz, which transfers less data but goes further and is harder to both jam and detect. Despite keeping a lower profile among its fellow major Ukrainian drone makers, Skyfall has brought production to a massive scale since launching in June 2022. Skyfall's most beloved model is the Vampire, which first became famous under the name Russian soldiers have for it, the Baba Yaga, named for a fairytale witch. The moniker is due to the drone's ability to run night missions, particularly while bearing payloads of up to 15 kilograms — over five times the standard for FPVs. One of Skyfall's biggest selling points is nocturnal navigation. It's a feature largely enabled by thermal cameras like those produced by Ukrainian company Oko (which means 'eye' in Ukrainian), and one that has proved especially effective as many Russian units reportedly lack night-vision goggles. In drone footage from a Shrike — Skyfall's smaller FPV model — shared with the Kyiv Independent by a Ukrainian drone pilot, a Russian truck stands out clearly from the treeline it is hiding inside before the Shrike hurtles into its grill before the signal turns to static. Data from government contracts show the Shrikes selling for a little over Hr 13,000 in 2024, or about $320, making them some of the cheapest quadrocopters being purchased en masse inside of Ukraine. TAF is possibly the largest-scale manufacturer of FPV drones in Ukraine today, producing some 40,000 drones per month. Its output is valued at over $1 billion per year, according to Forbes Ukraine. TAF's drones are fairly standard cheap quadrocopters that flock over the front line in Ukraine. TAF emerged from a charity fund run by now-CEO Oleksandr Yakovenko, which was already producing drone parts to be assembled by soldiers by early 2023. TAF's surge in production over the past year has been quite stunning. If true, 40,000 a month would account for about a third of the 1.5 million drones that the Defense Ministry said Ukrainian makers shipped to the frontline in 2024. One billion dollars in orders would be a similarly massive fraction of Ukraine's total drone budget — approximately $2.5 billion in 2025, not including money that individual brigades raise in donations. By many accounts the archetypical Ukrainian drone maker, UkrSpec dates back to 2014, when it was founded in response to Russia's initial annexation of Crimea and invasion of Donbas. UkrSpec has produced many models over the years, but almost exclusively of the highly engineered repeated-use variety — specifically intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. The Shark is a long-range ISR drone that largely set the standard for the genre within Ukraine. The 'People's Drone,' or PD-2, is similar but can carry cargo up to 8 kilograms — in theory, anything including a few artillery shells — with a range of up to 1,300 kilometers. Avia Atlon is another firm that dates back to 2014. Its bread-and-butter model is the Furia, a long-range recon drone that the firm began exporting abroad prior to Russia's full-scale invasion. They were selling the Furia for just over $100,000 in 2022, per the accounting of local charity Come Back Alive. The most recent Furia model is a massive ISR drone that resembles a white manta ray and is specially designed to scout targets from up high for Ukrainian artillery. Far cheaper is Avia Atlon's Hrim, also known as Silent Thunder, which is a smaller kamikaze drone that remains more intricate than the average FPV drone of its class as it depends on a reusable quadrocopter for liftoff. Another of the founding fathers of what would become Ukraine's wartime drone boom, UkrJet shares some overlap in leadership with UkrSpec. Unlike UkrSpec, UkrJet is most famous for its actual explosive models. Its Bobr, or 'Beaver,' was the first of Ukraine's major deep-strike drones, flying up to 1,000 kilometers inside of Russia. UkrJet is a project of Oleksandr Chendekov, who a competitor referred to as 'the father of the Ukrainian drone.' Chendekov was chief technology officer at UkrSpec, UkrJet, and today, at Airlogix. Registered in 2021, UkrJet started public production of its attack drones in 2022, in the months following Russia's full-scale invasion. Terminal Autonomy is a relatively low-profile, internationally owned, Ukraine-based firm that nonetheless ships upwards of 1,000 of its AQ 100s and an unknown number of its deep-strike AQ 400s each month. At $30,000 and a range of 750 kilometers, the AQ 400s are likely the cheapest long-distance strike drones on the market. To cut costs, their drones are made of plywood. The similarly wooden AQ 100s are kamikaze drones, likewise designed to be deployed en masse, affordably. In addition to wooden frames, their fixed-wing design means they only need a single motor, unlike quadrocopters which, while more maneuverable, require four. The largest traditional aircraft maker in Ukraine, Antonov is often overlooked in considerations of drone manufacturers. Given its standing ties to Ukraine's government-owned weapons makers, it had little reason to advertise. Among drones, Antonov is most notable for its 'Lyuty' drone, a long-range model roughly analogous to the Iranian-made Shaheds that Russia sends into Ukraine nightly. Ukraine's long-range strike drones are typically tightly held secrets within Ukraine's drone programs. But Russian sources frequently identify Lyuty drones as those striking local oil infrastructure. Long a government-owned defense manufacturer, Antonov formally transitioned into a private holding in April 2024. Its ties to Ukraine's Soviet-descended, state-owned defense conglomerate, UkrOboronProm, remain well-established. The pricing on a single Lyuty comes in at just under $200,000 a unit. Airlogix is a large-scale drone maker that has seen massive growth since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. Pre-2022, Airlogix launched with a hefty cargo drone. After Russia's invasion, they militarized their production. Their GOR model is an ISR drone that boasts four-hour flight times and sells for some $200,000 a piece, founder and CEO Vitalii Kolesnichenko told the Kyiv Independent. Kolesnichenko says Airlogix has quintupled sales of the GOR in the past year, reaching 500 units shipped in 2024, which adds up to about $100 million. Other sources say that Airlogix is also working on a deep-strike drone, but Kolesnichenko would not comment on details. Skyeton's Raybird is a hyper-advanced ISR drone whose latest models boast max flight times of 28 hours. A Raybird system, which includes three separate drones, sells for over $1 million a piece. Total battlefield usage remains a mystery as military acquisitions are secret, but public records show Ukrainian emergency responders buying at least five of those systems since the start of the full-scale invasion. Skyeton opened up production in Slovakia earlier in 2024 to escape wartime controls on Ukrainian military and dual-use equipment. The firm at the time claimed that the Ukrainian military was only contracting 50 of their drones annually, lamenting that internal production could have reached 100. Read also: How Ukraine's new drone-missile hybrids are changing long-range weapon technology We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
