US lags behind Ukraine in drone production – Reuters

Reuters has reported that the Pentagon acknowledges the United States is currently lagging behind Ukraine significantly in terms of drone production.

Source: Reuters

Quote: "The Pentagon official tasked with building a domestic drone industry said on Monday the United States is still in the earliest, hardest phase of that effort, acknowledging output remains a fraction of Ukraine's production even as the government tightens rules requiring drones be built with American-made parts."

Details: Travis Metz, deputy director and chief operating officer of the Defense Innovation Unit, who has been leading the Pentagon's Drone Dominance programme since last autumn, said in an interview that Ukraine would produce between six and seven million small FPV attack drones this year, or around 500,000 per month.

Reuters draws a comparison: under the Pentagon's US$1.1 billion programme, just under 200,000 drones will have been ordered in total by February. "It's much harder to get from zero to 200,000" than to continue increasing production once the domestic capacity to manufacture far larger numbers of drones is in place, Metz noted.

However, the Pentagon has significantly hampered the rapid growth of drone production by introducing rules requiring military drones to be manufactured using American-made components. A revised supply chain strategy published on 23 July added wording stating that the government's ultimate goal is a fully domestic supply chain for small unmanned aerial vehicles.

Metz acknowledged that components that are more difficult to source, particularly semiconductors, remain a much greater challenge for the US beyond the drone programme.

None of the drones from the 19 companies participating in the August trials may contain prohibited Chinese-made components, Metz said. This is a stricter standard than was applied during the first phase of the programme.

"It's becoming a harder task," he said, estimating that "the overwhelming majority" of drones bought under the previous tranche likely contained Chinese motors.

He nevertheless expressed hope that the US would eventually be able to compete with Ukraine's drone industry. "I see no reason why we shouldn't ... be the world champions of this as well," he said.

Metz said that all six Ukrainian companies invited to take part in the Gauntlet II trials, which will be held next month at Fort Carson in Colorado, have either already signed or are preparing to sign joint venture agreements with American manufacturers as a condition for securing future contracts.

Ukrainian company F-Drones has partnered with Ohio-based Ukrainian Defense Drones, which has opened a factory near Toledo, while Ukrainian drone manufacturer General Cherry has agreed to establish a joint venture with New Hampshire-based Wilcox Industries, according to the companies themselves.

Metz said that Ukrainian companies participating in Gauntlet II are required to locate their production in the US as a condition for securing future orders. The arrangement is intended to translate Ukraine's battlefield experience into American manufacturing capacity rather than relying on imports.

Background:

• Ukraine and the US have signed a declaration of intent laying the groundwork for an unprecedented defence partnership, allowing Ukrainian drones to be exported to the US for military testing.
• Back in May, media reports said that the US and Ukrainian governments had drawn up a draft memorandum outlining the terms of a possible new defence agreement between the two countries focused on drones.
• On 8 July, during the NATO summit in Ankara, US President Donald Trump said that the US would purchase drones from Ukraine.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon to help us keep reporting!