In 2024, private defense industry enterprises in Ukraine did not produce more than 1.7 million drones and electronic warfare (EW) devices due to the lack of state orders, despite having production capacities. This was reported by the Technological Forces of Ukraine (TSU).
In total, the companies could have produced 4,700 units of such equipment per day if state customers had consistently contracted them. The total value of this equipment is estimated at nearly $2 billion.
According to TSU, private companies were capable of manufacturing over 2.7 million units of weaponry, but under state contracts and orders from charitable funds, only 37% of that amount was actually produced—just over 1 million units of military equipment.
"Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the need to expand the production capabilities of all types of weapons has been repeatedly raised. Most private-sector defense industry manufacturers understand the immense needs of the front and invest in scaling up production. However, the lack of stable and predictable procurement by state customers has hindered the production and delivery of the necessary equipment to the army," explains Kateryna Mykhalko, Executive Director of the Technological Forces of Ukraine.
In response, TSU launched a public tool—the Tracker of Weapons Left Unmade. It shows the unused potential of the private defense sector.
The counter displays the overall volume of underused production capacity of manufacturers and details the missing equipment by type.
According to TSU's calculations, due to the lack of orders, Ukrainian enterprises did not produce in 2024:
- Over 1.6 million FPV drones,
- Over 72,000 strike drones,
- 8,400 reconnaissance drones,
- 1,600 long-range drones,
- 1,000 ground robotic systems,
- Over 1,500 EW devices.
The organization emphasized that these underutilized capacities could have been used for fulfilling foreign contracts to supply military equipment to allied countries, which would have brought Ukraine foreign currency income and contributed to the development of the industry.
