By KYIV. Nov 1 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Head of the Ukrainian Federation of UAV Owners Taras Troiak, which represents about 100 Ukrainian manufacturers of UAVs and military tech products, is asking President Volodymyr Zelensky to allow Ukrainian manufacturers of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to take part in procurement of the Ministry of Defense.
In the text of the letter, published on Troiak’s Facebook page on Tuesday, it is proposed to abolish the requirements for passing a number of certification technical permits during martial law and replace it with the usual one-day admission with a test.
According to Troiak, only five manufacturers in Ukraine have all the documents and approvals, but they cannot satisfy all the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"It is well known that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are not provided with a sufficient number of UAVs and have a large shortage and a great need for them. The reason is that the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense do not indicate the need for Ukrainian-made UAVs and other developments of Ukrainian manufacturers, referring to the fact that they did not pass tests, they did not provide working design documentation, cost calculation materials and technical conditions, obtaining which may take three years for each model," Troiak said.
Thus, according to him, Ukrainian UAV manufacturers cannot receive orders for manufacturing UAVs, which are urgently needed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, from the Ministry of Digital Transformation from the UNITED24 special fund. At the same time, the General Staff indicates the need for Chinese-made drones of the DJI and Autel brands, which also did not pass the specified certification and technical approvals, but the Ministry of Digital Development calmly purchases them.
"Currently, according to a UNITED24 report, about $53 million has been spent on drones and about 1,000 drones have been purchased, more than 80-90% of which are Chinese-made at an average of $35,000 apiece. And Mr. Fedorov at the same time cynically claims that he supports Ukrainian manufacturers by 90%, actually allocating less than 5% of this amount for purchases from Ukrainian manufacturers, which led to a decrease in the defense capability of Ukraine," the head of the federation of UAV owners said.
He also proposed that Zelensky allow the installation of antennas for detecting and controlling UAVs at the Motherland monument, which will allow monitoring and controlling the movement of drones in Kyiv and the suburbs, and in some cases with a signal range up to Minsk. And also to allow the use of bunkers under the Olympiysky stadium and in other places for production purposes and the creation of a military development hub and provide them for use by Ukrainian manufacturers of military-tech products free of charge during martial law.
