Overview
- Ukraine’s military says its drone force is flying about 11,000 missions a day and in March hit more than 150,000 targets with about a 50% success rate.
- Commander Oleksandr Syrskyi says those strikes have neutralized more Russian troops than Moscow can recruit since December.
- New interceptor drones such as the Strila are shooting down more incoming Shahed-type drones, with missions up 55% from February and more than 2,300 aerial targets downed since early spring, according to Ukrainian figures.
- The Strila program is scaling, with the maker and Germany’s Quantum Systems planning 15,000 interceptor units for Ukraine’s National Guard and training teams that now need two to three operators instead of five.
- Industry leaders report rapid growth in output and range, citing production of 800,000 drones in 2023, 4 million in 2025, and a goal of 7 million in 2026, while European partners seek Ukrainian expertise and more than 200 Ukrainian specialists were sent to Gulf states to help counter Iran-launched drones.