According to the National Pulse, Kyiv's drone supplier of choice is SZ DJI Technology – which is based in the city of Shenzhen in China's Guangdong province. A separate report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) also confirmed this detail, noting that the Ukrainian military is using off-the-shelf drones from the firm.
In a statement, DJI said it tries to restrict the use of its drones in the Russia-Ukraine war. But it admitted that it cannot control how the drones are used, especially in war zones, after they are purchased. DJI nevertheless remarked that it "absolutely deplores and condemns the use of its products to cause harm anywhere in the world." (Related: Drone use is widening in Ukraine, bringing with it potential dawn of robotic killing machines.)
The company has been been denounced by Washington as a Chinese military company and a surveillance tool for Beijing, a claim DJI denies. The U.S. Department of Defense has also banned the use of the company's drones in the military. A proposal in the U.S. Congress would also ban new DJI products from being imported in the country, the WSJ added.
DJI denounced the proposed ban in the same statement it issued, calling it politically motivated. According to the drone manufacturer, it was the product of lobbying by American drone companies that are trying to eliminate competition. But the Pulse remarked that in spite of the ban, Ukrainian purchases funded at least in part by U.S. aid keeps the money flowing for DJI.
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Aside from drones, Ukraine also relies on Chinese-made components for its burgeoning domestic drone industry. Factories in the country are churning out "hundreds of thousands of small, cheap drones that can carry explosives." They can also produce " larger drones that can strike deep into enemy territory and reach Russian ships on the Black Sea."
Ukraine conflict exposes shortcomings in the U.S. drone industry
Meanwhile, the Pulse mentioned that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has exposed "significant deficiencies" in the American drone industry. These deficiencies, it added, has prompted Kyiv to turn to Chinese drones for its offensive against Moscow.
Adding insult to injury, the WSJ also outlined examples of these unreliable U.S. drones. In one instance, hundreds of drones made by San Mateo, California-based Skydio "flew off course and were lost." Others fell victim to Russia's electronic warfare, being downed by jammers.
Even Skydio CEO Adam Bry admitted that his company's drones are "not a very successful platform on the front lines. He continued: "The general reputation for every class of U.S. drone in Ukraine is that they don't work as well as other systems."
"Made-in-America drones tend to be expensive, glitchy and hard to repair, said drone company executives, Ukrainians on the front lines, Ukrainian government officials and former U.S. defense officials. Ukrainian officials have found U.S.-made drones fragile and unable to overcome Russian jamming and GPS blackout technology," the WSJ elaborated.
"At times, they couldn't take off, complete missions, or return home. American drones often fail to fly at the distances advertised or carry substantial payloads."
According to the Pulse, Ukrainian forces are burning through about 10,000 drones a month. Had they chosen the glitchy yet more expensive American counterparts, that number would have been lower. "The problems with U.S. drones are not only a national security weakness but also a loss for the U.S. economy," it ultimately remarked.
Visit DroneWatchNews.com for more stories about the use of drones in Ukraine.
Watch this footage of a Russian bomb destroying a drone factory in Ukraine.
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