Ukraine has moved another step toward industrial‑scale battlefield automation after delivering its first 100,000 first-person view (FPV) drones to frontline units under the country’s fast‑moving DOT‑Chain Defence procurement system.
This initial mass delivery reflects a decisive break from Ukraine’s older, paperwork‑heavy acquisition process.
Instead of waiting weeks for approvals, combat units now select what they need directly from a catalogue of more than 180 FPV drone models built by 40 domestic manufacturers, choosing payload types, video systems, and flight characteristics that match their missions in real time.
Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal noted that almost one‑third of the first batch consists of fiber‑optic FPVs, which are systems valued for their resilience against electronic warfare and reliability during complex strike operations.
The shift demonstrates both technological progress and a dismantling of bureaucratic bottlenecks, he said.
Rather than forcing frontline units through lengthy contract chains, the Ministry of Defence’s procurement agency now handles payments, contracting, and logistics.
This arrangement has cut the average delivery time to roughly seven days, a pace Ukraine views as essential in high‑tempo, attritional warfare.
Shmyhal reiterated that drones serve as “the eyes and weapons” of Ukraine’s forces and stressed that sustaining rapid delivery is now a 24/7 national effort.
DOT‑Chain Defence
DOT‑Chain Defence has emerged as the Ministry of Defence’s flagship rapid‑procurement mechanism. It is a digitally driven supply chain designed to move unmanned systems from production lines to fighting positions with minimal intermediary steps.
Instead of centralized bulk purchasing, brigades place direct orders through an approved marketplace of Ukrainian manufacturers, ensuring FPV drones are tailored to unit‑level needs rather than generic national requirements.
Over the past year, the system has expanded through standardized certification pathways, allowing dozens of small and midsize manufacturers to scale into steady production.
Direct ordering from units tightened the link between tactical requirements and industrial output, while automated logistics hubs introduced in mid‑2024 helped reduce delivery timelines to the current one‑week average.
Fiber‑optic FPV integration has accelerated to blunt Russian electronic warfare dominance, and new mass‑production partnerships with private drone cooperatives have pushed Ukraine closer to its stated ambition of producing one million drones per year.
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