Ukraine parliament committee head confident country can revive domestic defense industry

Ukraine shows promise in boosting production of everything from drones and artillery shells to tanks, missiles, aircraft and ships on its own territory, the chairman of the Defense Committee of the Verkhovna Rada, Oleksandr Zavitnevych said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.

""We believe that all types of weapons and military equipment without exception that are needed for our defense forces are promising. Our goal is to reach maximum self-sufficiency in meeting the needs of the front as soon as possible through domestic or joint production with partners," the lawmaker said.

For this, he explained, Ukraine is systematically acting in two directions: launching new ranges of "defense" products, including artillery shells and drones, as well as reviving the defense capabilities that Ukraine had in the past. This concerns the production of tanks, planes, ships and missiles.

"In each of these directions, the support of state-owned enterprises of the defense industry and the development of the private sector have been strengthened several times. A number of other measures have been taken, in particular, all procedures for importing necessary components, financing long-term contracts, etc., have been simplified," Zavitnevych said.

On December 19, 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised that Ukraine would produce a million drones in 2024.

Minister of Strategic Industries Alexander Kamyshin later clarified that the head of state meant only FPV drones. According to him, already in December, Ukraine produces more than 50,000 FPV drones per month.

The Ministry of Defense said that Ukraine is increasing the production of kamikaze drones to compensate for the lack of artillery shells at the front.