Kamyshin: 500 companies already work in Ukrainian defense industry, half of capacities are contracted

In 2023, Ukraine's defense industry grew sixfold. More than half of the available capabilities have already been contracted.

Last year's production volumes of the Ukrainian defense industry were three times higher than in 2022. This was stated in his speech at the forum "Ukraine. Year 2024" on February 25, Minister for Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin said in his speech at the forum.

"Last year, our defense industry produced three times more than in 2022. Our capabilities for 2023 are six times higher than last year. We have about half of these capabilities contracted for 2024. We are working together with the Ministry of Defense and the Defense Forces for further contracting," the minister said.

According to Kamyshin, there are currently about 500 defense companies in Ukraine engaged in the design, repair, production and maintenance of weapons, equipment and everything else the Ukrainian army needs. About 400 of them are private, and another hundred are state-owned.

The minister also added that in 2023, Ukraine was able to increase its own production of ammunition, both existing and new items. This year, the course to increase the production of shells remains one of the state's priorities.

Last December, Kamyshin said that most of the drones purchased for the Armed Forces were made in Ukraine. These are both FPV drones and analogs of Shahed-type kamikaze drones.

A little later, the head of the Ministry of Strategic Industries told how many and what kind of drones Ukraine plans to produce in 2024. According to him, the plans announced by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to produce one million drones this year relate exclusively to FPV drones. In addition to them, it is planned to produce more than a thousand UAVs with a flight range of more than 1,000 kilometers and more than 10,000 medium-range strike drones.

According to Kamyshin, the new long-range drones are being tested in combat conditions. It is with their help that Ukraine attacks targets in the Russian Federation, in particular, Ukrainian UAVs struck St. Petersburg in mid-January.

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