[Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Strategic Industries on Arms Production in 2024]

On April 12, German Smetanin, the Deputy Minister of Ukraine's Strategic Industries, stated at the "Arms of Ukraine 2024" press conference that compared to 2022, the production of the "Deep Strike" drones in Ukraine increased by 22 times in 2024, and the production of anti-electronic warfare equipment grew by 340 times.

Smetanin said, "Regarding the 'Deep Strike' drones, our production last year increased 22 times. According to the sustainable development plan submitted to the Verkhovna Rada, our goal this year is to produce 30,000 units annually. Currently, our production progress is in line with the plan, and we will achieve this target this year."

Smetanin also pointed out that the production of Ukraine's anti-electronic warfare equipment increased 340 times in 2024, and the production of ground robotic systems increased 15 times compared to 2023. "This will be a key turning point this year. We must achieve the robotization of our military."

Regarding FPV drones, Smetanin said that Ukraine produced 2.2 million units last year, and the output of Ukrainian manufacturers will further increase this year. "As a country, we are now capable of producing approximately 10 million FPV drones. The most important thing here is not the growth in output but the localization of components, which are now produced domestically in Ukraine."

Smetanin specifically mentioned that in the missile weapons sector, Ukraine introduced many new types of equipment last year, particularly mentioning "Flame Thrower," "Hell," "Ruta," and "Cheetah" drone missiles. "If two years ago, as a country, we could only produce one type of winged missile, which was the 'Neptune' missile... Last year we had many new products, and the weapon production increased 8 times compared to 2023."

In terms of ammunition, Smetanin said that 2.4 million mortar rounds and shells were produced last year, an increase of 2.4 times. Additionally, the "Bogdan" self-propelled howitzer underwent innovation. "We have a new version—the towed 'Bogdan.' As a country, we now produce more self-propelled howitzers and towed howitzers than all the countries in the free world combined. Our production increased 3 times last year."

Smetanin stated that last year Ukraine saw 324 new coded products. Currently, the production load in Ukraine is about 50%, "and if there is a military need, we can further increase production."

Smetanin said that last year Ukraine's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 3.9%, with the defense sector contributing a full third of this—1.27% of Ukraine's GDP growth came from the defense sector. Last year, there were 718 arms manufacturers in Ukraine. Nowadays, most enterprises in Ukraine are privately owned manufacturers, with only 13% being state-owned. "Last year, 52% of all weapons and military equipment were produced by private manufacturers, and their production capacity is now larger than that of the state-owned military-industrial complex. Although the state-owned military-industrial complex also continued to grow last year." Nowadays, over 300,000 people are engaged in the "defense" sector in tasks such as arms and military equipment production, design, modernization, and maintenance.

Smetanin said that in fact, last year Ukraine's arms and military equipment production was worth $9 billion. The minister pointed out that this year "we have seen growth—we are capable of reaching a scale of $350 billion in arms and military equipment production within Ukraine by the end of this year."

Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1829248059033604/

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