Ukraine Is Making FPV Drones Without Chinese Parts And At Lower Cost
Ukrainian Vyriy Drones now make FPV drones entirely from Ukrainian parts Vyriy DronesAt a time when reducing imports and building national capacity is become ever more important, Ukraine has achieved what seemed impossible: producing drones using entirely locally made components. This gives them an unrivalled ability to develop and mass produce drones to their exact requirements. More surprising is the cost. Rather than adding a premium, by building locally the Ukrainians are actually undercutting Chinese makers. The First 1,000 FPVs Last month, Ukrainian makers Vyriy Drone performed an official handover of the first batch of 1,000 “all-Ukrainian” FPV drones. A company spokesman said the government did not demand local production, but it has been one a long-term company goal. Vyriy Drones have been making FPVs for over two years. Part of the first batch of 1,000 FPVs with entirely Ukrainian components handed over last month MilitarnyiThe spokesman noted that Vyriy make their own frames, initiation boards, flight controllers, and radio control systems, and that other components including cameras and video transmitters and cameras are sourced from Ukrainian companies. It is important to note that some of the electronic chips in that make up devices may in fact come from China or other countries. But these are simple building blocks, commodity products which can be sourced from the U.S. and Japan. They are very different to specialist end products for drones like flight controllers. Dr Oleksandra Molloy of the University of New South Wales is the author of a study for the Australian Army Research Centre on lessons learned from the war in Ukraine. This highlights the importance of sovereign drone production. “While since the start of the war most of the components were brought from China, most of them now are produced locally,” Molloy told me. “Ukrainian manufacturers are constantly looking for components to improve them.” China is reportedly tightening export controls on the sale of components used in drone production. Cutting China out of the supply chain removes a critical dependency. The locally made drones cost less than those made with Chinese parts thanks to concerted efforts by local companies to produce specific components,Graph from Serhii Flash showing how Ukrainian made drone components have become progressively ... More cheaper over the last two yearsSerhii Flash“Initially, there was a generally accepted opinion that China could not be beaten on price,” Ukrainian analyst Serhii Flash wrote on his Telegram channel. “Never. But competition, time, volumes, optimization of business processes work wonders. “ Flash shares a graph showing how the prices of various locally made components including motors, frames and propellers have dropped an average of around 50% over the last two years. Make Your Own Thermal Imager Frames and propellers are relatively easy to make without a major investment in production machinery. Other components are more challenging. In 2024 we reported on how Ukrainian makers Wild Hornets were making their own flight controllers on a robotic assembly line,and later set up a similar process to make their own drone batteries. Specialist companies have gone further. Thermal imagers are a particular challenge, and FPV makers have spent considerable time and effort finding Chinese suppliers who meet their requirements for cost and capability. In other countries, the defence sector makes it own high-end thermal imagers and price is not a factor. Drone makers are on a tighter budget. A $2,000 military imager is not a viable proposition for a $400 FPV, In October 2024 Ukrainian start-up Odd Systems announced that they were producing locally-made thermal imagers. These are comparable to Chinese 256x192 pixel imagers, but about 20% cheaper at $250. Odd Systems say they when they can make their Kurbas-256 in volume the unit price will drop even further.Comparison of Kurbas-256 thermal imager with Chinse commercial products Odd SystemsImportantly the Kurbas-256 is designed for FPVs rather than general industrial use. The developers talked to drone operators about their combat experience with commercial Chinese thermal imaging cameras and modified their design accordingly. For example, some Chinese cameras suffer from condensation forming inside them, making them unusable, so Kurbas cameras come in a sealed unit sealed to prevent condensation. “We studied the experience and considered the wishes of FPV operators. We have created a Ukrainian product with full control of hardware and low-level software,” the company told Militaryni. For example, the operator can adjust the output of the Kurbas-256 in flight, changing contrast for a clearer image depending on conditions. Also, most thermal cameras have automatic calibration which sometimes freezes the image for several seconds. This is not an issue for most applications but disastrous on a drone, so Odd Systems’ cameras do not have this ‘feature’. A Strategic Move As well as providing benefits at the micro scale of drone operation, local production is critical on the macro scale of defence procurement as drones now dominate the battlefield. “[Sovereign drone production capability] allows for a faster cycle of innovation and adaptation, via fast response to the needs of the military, and fast implementation of the required,” says Molloy. “Local production makes it possible to control all aspects of the technological process, including improvement and adaptation to the specific military needs of the country, and reduce the risks of defective parts.” It also means not being forced to rely on, for example, China, for components. “Domestic production mitigates vulnerabilities associated with international supply chain disruptions and potential political constraints on foreign procurement,” says Molloy. And, as seen in Ukraine, it can mean getting more drones for less. Molloy notes that other countries are now starting to wake up to the importance of local production, many of them gaining directly from Ukraine’s experience.. “In Europe, for example, many countries are investing in establishing joint manufacturing of UAV components,” says Molloy. “This has become possible through collaboration between manufacturers and local businesses. Many countries, including UK, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Netherlands learn lessons from Ukraine and collaborate with Ukraine, while stepping up own production of UAVs and their components. “ Countries like Australia and the U.S. are investing in drone technology, but not on the scale that many would like to see. Last year, George Matus, CEO of Teal Drones, argued that the U.S. could transform drone infrastructure for the price of one F-35. This has not happened yet, though clearly there is a renewed emphasis in reducing mports. On April 7th, Twitter/X user Naval posted that “Any country that can’t manufacture its own drones will be a vassal state” - a sentiment greeted with a bullseye emoji from Elon Musk. Ukraine is on course to produce over four million drones this year. A steadily increasing proportion of these will be made from local components. With drones already inflicting the majority of combat losses, this production will be the cornerstone in the war effort against Russia. After the war, Ukrainian drone production may become a significant export earner, as other nations without this sort of production capacity scramble to build their own drone arsenals.