January 24, 2026:
In late 2024 China stopped selling drones and drone components to Ukraine. Ukraine’s solution was to ramp up production by its domestic drone manufacturers and obtain more drones and parts from the United States and NATO countries. These drones weren’t as rugged as the Chinese Mavic 3 and 4 models, but they could provide an adequate temporary solution. Eventually China relented and resumed shipments. It was either that or see the non-Chinese drone manufacturers grow even more competitive.
One result of the Ukraine War was the emergence of inexpensive drones as a decisive weapon, as well as a reconnaissance and surveillance system. Drones have been around for decades, but they were complex, expensive, and difficult to operate. That changed in the 1990s when General Atomics introduced its one-ton Predator drone. These were widely used by American and allied forces, along with the larger 4.2-ton Reaper. The second stage of the revolution came in 2016 when the Chinese firm DJI introduced the Mavic quadcopter drone. These were cheap, costing from $300 to thousands of dollars, depending on accessories. By the 2020s, most quadcopter drones cost about $500. More importantly, suppliers provided drone components, so you could build—and often design—your own.
In 2023, a year after Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukrainians were building their own drones, often at home or in scattered workshops. By late 2024, Ukrainians were producing over 150,000 drones a month. Ukraine now aims to produce over 1.5 million drones monthly. By purchasing Chinese and other components in bulk, thousands of Ukrainian men and women are building these drones for the armed forces or for someone they knew in the military. Troops at the front also build and modify drones to fit their immediate situations. For the soldiers, designing better drones is often a matter of life or death.
The Ukrainians have stayed ahead of the Russians in drone technology and production. The Russian government discourages or even outlaws individuals building drones and instead centralizes drone production.
Since Russia invaded in 2022, Ukrainian weapons manufacturers have grown nearly 400 percent. Ukraine produced nearly five million drones in 2025. In 2026 that is expected to be 20 million drones. It’s more than the drones themselves. Ukraine has developed novel ways of using larger drones to attack key Russian industrial targets that are thousands of kilometers from the Ukrainian border. There are also applications of drone technology to ground combat. Ukrainian infantry are increasingly augmented with combat robots to carry out high risk attacks. In more than one instance, defending Russian soldiers surrendered to the robots.
These technologies are also being used in long range missiles, driverless ground vehicles to carry supplies in the combat zone and even bring back wounded soldiers. There will be wider and more effective use of ground combat robots operated by AI/Artificial Intelligence augmented software.
Ukrainian manufacturers also produce artillery, rocket launchers and most other types of weapons and military equipment. For over a century Ukraine has been a major producer of weapons, including aircraft and missiles. When Ukraine became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991, they had nuclear weapons and missiles to carry them. A 1994 agreement between Ukraine, Russia, Britain and the United States had Ukraine getting rid of its nuclear weapons in return for guarantees from Russia that they would never attack Ukraine and if they did Britain and the Americans were obliged to aid Ukraine in resisting the attack. This experience complicates any future Russian offers to settle the Ukraine war via a treaty. In short, Russia cannot be trusted. Vladimir Putin did not take control of Russia until 1999 and apparently feels he is not responsible for observing the 1994 agreement.
Putin has more serious problems with Ukraine. While Russia is suffering from four years of increasingly stringent economic sanctions, the Ukrainian economy is rapidly growing. Ukrainian production of military equipment is rapidly expanding and attracting investments from NATO countries, especially the United States. Ukraine currently produces over 70 percent of the weapons it uses to fight the Russians. Since these weapons have proven themselves in combat, they are attractive choices for other nations looking for innovative and affordable weapons.
There are more than 500 defense related companies in Ukraine and most are looking for export customers or coproduction deals where other nations produce Ukrainian designed weapons. Ukraine regularly demonstrates that they can rapidly develop, produce and get into combat new systems. Any problems that develop, the Ukrainian manufacturer will quickly fix. Ukraine has become the gold standard for defense production and that has brought in over $100 billion in foreign investment.
By invading Ukraine, Russia has created a neighbor that became militarily and economically stronger and free to trade with NATO nations while Russia is crippled by economic sanctions.