Shmyhal: More than 200 Ukrainian companies began developing drones

More than 200 Ukrainian companies began developing drones, growing domestic production by a hundredfold in a year, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Oct. 7.

Speaking at Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine's Parliament, Shmyhal said that the defense industry has radically changed in the wake of Russia's full-scale war as it encourages private companies' involvement by making the "path of a drone from development to its purchase as short as possible."

Shmyhal's statement comes as Ukrainian innovators ramp up their efforts to help the military better defend themselves by developing new types of drones – such as ones that are resistant to Russia's powerful electronic warfare that often jams them.

In a move to encourage private companies' production of drones – now crucial to track enemy troop movements and locate their firing points from above, the government has taken steps to simplify the long bureaucratic process required for innovation to be officially used by the military.

Platforms, such as Brave1 that provides financial and informational support for Ukrainian defense tech projects, have been established to guide the innovation process.

The innovators, however, say that realizing war-time innovations on the battlefield is still a long and expensive bureaucratic process, often facing the lack of financial resources to keep going.

Read also: Deadly drone arms race intensifies as Ukraine, Russia embrace the future of war

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