Combat brigades of the Armed Forces will receive additional almost UAH 2 billion for the purchase of drones
17 December 2024 12:16
An additional UAH 1.89 billion has been allocated to combat brigades for the purchase of drones. This was announced by the Ministry of Defense, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
55% of the amount will be spent on Mavic drones, including those with night vision. 18% of the amount will be spent on the purchase of FPV kamikazes.
In addition, significant amounts of funding have been allocated for the purchase of reconnaissance UAVs, bombers and spare parts for them.
This year, according to the defense ministry, the amount spent on drones by the Ministry of Defense will cross the UAH 100 billion mark.
Decentralization of drone procurement
Last week, the President of Ukraine instructed the Government to increase direct funding to brigades for additional drone purchases.
At the end of the week, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal reported on the status of this order.
“The Ministry of Defense is allocating an additional UAH 1.1 billion for the purchase of drones. These are funds that will go directly to the brigades so that they can quickly cover the most important needs,” the Prime Minister said.
And today, another tranche has been allocated to the combat brigades for the purchase of drones – another UAH 1.89 billion.
The defense ministry says that the unequivocal advantage of such decentralized procurement is that the brigades can independently purchase the equipment they need to perform their combat missions. In addition, the drones will be sent to the front immediately.
In total, this month the Ministry of Defense will directly transfer UAH 4.3 billion to the military brigades, and over 11 months such direct funding has amounted to UAH 27.2 billion.
Denys Shmyhal also informed about the government’s decision to increase funding for decentralized procurement next year to the same level as this year. According to him, “this is especially important for the rapid procurement of drones, of which more than 1.5 million are planned to be produced this year.”
