In pics | Ukraine ramps up production for 'game-changer' drone fleet

The Reuters report talks about one of the Ukraine-based drone companies, AeroDrone, which is run at an unassuming industrial estate in northern Ukraine by two former Microsoft executives and a team of engineers. Prior to the conflict, the company used to make crop-dusting drones and is now supplying Ukraine’s armed forces with unmanned aircraft. 

The company is run by Dmytro Shymkiv and Yuriy Pederiy, who met while working at Microsoft's offices in Kyiv. AeroDrone has contracts for the supply of two types of long range drones, said a report by Reuters citing Ukraine's defence ministry. 

Ukraine's Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov told Reuters that drones are "potentially a game-changer on the battlefield" similar to the way that Western Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) weapons became last year.

While UVAs and drones are only one element of a war currently being dominated by artillery, infantry and missiles. Reports suggest that Moscow has an advantage and is able to destroy targets across Ukraine with its long-range missiles, which Kyiv lacks.

"It is not worth expecting parity in the near future," Reznikov told Reuters, in a written statement, in the context of closing the armament gap.

Therefore, since Kyiv needs hundreds of thousands of drones it is looking to source from a rapidly-expanding domestic industry. As of now, the Ukrainian military operates dozens of drones both domestic and foreign for a "wide spectrum” of roles, said Reznikov to Reuters. 

As mentioned earlier, while Ukraine has received significant supplies of UAVs from its allies, Kyiv is in the midst of ramping up its own production.

A Ukrainian defence specialist and head of a non-governmental organisation called Come Back Alive, Taras Chmut said that Kyiv's domestic production of drones has grown three to four times when compared to before the conflict began a year ago, reported Reuters. 

Chmut also said that the organisation has raised tens of millions of dollars due to crowdfunding which they have used to supply equipment to the military including drones.

He added, that the size of Ukraine's overall drone fleet has increased by “tens of times” which he has attributed to the supplies from both abroad and in Ukraine and donations by organisations such as his.

Sources at AeroDrone told Reuters, that one of its two models, called Enterprise is based on the frame of a light aircraft and in some situations can fly over 3,000 kilometres.

It is also used for various tactical purposes thanks to payloads of 300 kilograms. "It can carry 200 kg for 1200 km," said AeroDrone's Dmytro Shymkiv about Enterprise, as per Reuters. 

Smaller of the company's two UAV models, 'Discovery', can also be used for various tactical purposes, according to a report by Reuters.

It can carry a payload of 80 kilograms. Notably, one AeroDrone aircraft can cost up to $450,000 depending on the model and configuration and can also include features such as an anti-jamming system to counteract Russian signal interference.