Ukrainian Firm Produces Fully Indigenous FPV Drones at ‘Chinese Price’

The first thousand completely indigenous Ukrainian FPV drones were produced by the Vyriy company substituting foreign components at ‘Chinese price’ and delivered to the armed forces.

The batch of one thousand thermal imaging 8-inch drones, custom-made by DSSZZI, was assembled using exclusively Ukrainian components, including the camera and other electronics.They will be delivered to the military as part of the “Drone Army” project, Ukrainian media reported.

Vyryv has been working on replacing foreign elements for two years and has localized the production of frames, initiation boards, flight controllers, and radio control systems on its own. Other elements, in particular, video transmitters and cameras, were provided by Ukrainian manufacturers D1 and Odd Systems.

Localized drones have been reduced in price to the level of similar drones made from Chinese parts, the tender price of which fluctuates around 30 thousand hryvnias, the report said.

In addition, China's tightening export controls on the sale of goods that can be used in the production of drones is making it difficult to source parts from the Asian nation.