According to russia's official statistics, around 900 companies are involved in unmanned aerial vehicle production, 70% of which are small or medium-sized businesses. The total workforce engaged in drone manufacturing is estimated at 7,000 people.
Between 2022 and 2025, russia allocated at least 243 billion rubles (roughly $3 billion) specifically to develop its drone industry. This helps explain why now they has such a vast supply of Shahed-family and other long-range UAVs for mass strikes against Ukraine, Defense News reports.
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Over the next three years, russia plans to spend an additional 112 billion rubles (about $1.38 billion) on scaling up UAV manufacture — not including military budget expenditures for drones.
A key aspect of this strategy is how russia masks drone industry spending through so-called civilian programs, such as developing UAVs for agriculture. This tactic has yielded visible results: between 2023 and 2024, total drone production grew by at least 2.5 times, and the output of long-range drones increased fivefold.
Furthermore, from 2025 to 2027, russia intends to invest 21 billion rubles to set up UAV-focused research centers distributed across its territory — formally under the guise of scientific development.
A cornerstone of russia's drone push is the "strategic depth" concept: dispersing drone and component manufacturing sites so that long-range Ukrainian strikes can't paralyze the entire production chain.
One major hub is the Alabuga zone, where tens of thousands of workers are involved in assembling Shahed-136 (Geran-2) kamikaze UAV. This project is currently led by the russian firm Albatros, which previously claimed to specialize in "agricultural equipment."
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