Both Ukrainian and Western mass media, referring to russian resources, report that Ukrainian engineers have apparently bought all available components in China, which are apparently enough to manufacture as many as 50-100 thousand FPV kamikaze drones. And that russian occupiers are already preparing to repulse such a large-scale aerial attack during the upcoming counterattack of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
At first glance, this looks realistic, considering the characteristics of FPV kamikaze drones as a type of weapon. So, basically a cheap quadcopter-type carrier drone, which is also called "wedding drones" and which can be modified for any payload, for example up to 2 kg of ammunition. However, there may be nuances that should be discussed separately.
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Even in the manufacture of "artisan" weapons, such parameters as time, cost and pace of production are important. And if we take the open source data, then we will get the following a space for generalization.
For example, on March 28, 2023, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine announced that during the month of the volunteer campaign called “Ukraine’s Power”, it was possible to generate 58 million hryvnias, which would be enough to buy 2,200 kamikaze FPV drones for Ukraine’s scouts. It equals on average 26.4 thousand hryvnias (less than one thousand dollars) per unit, but these drones still need to be manufactured.
Perhaps the "flywheel of production" should have a cumulative effect in the near future when certain resource and experience will play its role. For example, within the framework of the "Army of Drones" project, which is conducted simultaneously by Ukraine’s General Staff, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Digital Transformation and UNITED24, a total of 3,201 drones were bought in 9 months of work. But now there are contracts "in work" for the production and delivery of drones worth 4 billion hryvnias.
This is the equivalent of almost 154,000 kamikaze FPV drones (of course, the financial resource is also needed for other types of UAVs). More "free" money and resources equals more "tools" for the surgical destruction of russia’s equipment and manpower.
The following example can show how many FPV kamikaze drones are really needed, at least for the "routine" work of Ukraine’s defenders. In one of the reports, ArmyInform stated in February 2023 that a small unit of marines had used at least 100 drones in just one month of combat, both disposable kamikaze drones and common “reusable” ones for dropping ammunition. It means, on average, you get almost 4 attacks per day, taking into account the time to detect the target and fly to it.
Accumulation of FPV-drones-kamikaze for the Defense Forces of Ukraine has its limits, at least in terms of time, since it is necessary to collect money and then make "tools". But there are also horizons for development, thanks to them FPV kamikaze drones will become a truly massive weapon for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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