Ukraine Says Drone Deliveries Rose Nearly Fourfold in 2026
· TexaHub · Drones, Defence & Security, Geopolitics & Tech
Ukraine's Defence Ministry reported that drone deliveries in 2026 have already surpassed the full-year 2025 total, with procurement contracts up 5.5 times year-on-year as the EU releases billions in support.
Procurement Surge
Ukraine's Defence Ministry said on 11 October that it had ordered and received more drones so far in 2026 than in all of 2025. Deliveries rose almost 3.7 times compared with the same period last year, while the ministry's procurement agency contracted 5.5 times as many drones, Defence Minister Yevhen Khmara said in a press statement [1].
"The task of the Ministry of Defence is to give the army drones to work effectively at every level," Khmara said. The ministry did not disclose absolute production or delivery figures, providing only year-on-year ratios [1].
EU Funding and Domestic Scale
The announcement followed the European Union's disbursement of 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) for drones on 7 October, with a further payment expected before an EU leaders' summit on 14 October. An estimated 15.4 billion euros of EU defence support allocated through the end of 2026 remains unspent [1].
Separately, the ministry has codified and authorised 650 unmanned aerial systems for the Defence Forces since the start of 2026, most of them domestically manufactured. The largest categories are strike copter UAVs (238 models) and fibre-optic-controlled drones (231 models), the latter valued for their resistance to electronic warfare [2].
Sources
[1] Ukraine's Drone Production Jumps 370% in 2026, Says Defense Ministry — Kyiv Independent, 11 Oct 2026
[2] Ukraine Approves 650 Unmanned Aerial Systems in 2026 — Defence Industry Europe, 24 Sep 2026