Inside Ukraine’s hidden factories mass-producing combat drones
LVIV, Ukraine: Private — The same Iranian-designed Shahed drones that rain down on Lviv, Ukraine, almost every night are now hunted by weapons built inside secret factories just a few kilometers away, where former students and office workers assemble kamikaze drones and interceptors around the clock.
What started as an impromptu wartime effort has become the world’s fastest growing military drone industries. A Ukrainian official said Kiev now leads NATO in battlefield innovation and could offer hard-earned lessons to the United States and Israel, which face the same Iranian drone technology in the Gulf.
“Drone technology has completely changed the situation on the front lines,” Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. “Maybe in six months, maybe a year, we will have the technology to take down 1,000 drones at once.
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Ukrainian-made unmanned aerial vehicles were displayed at a military technology exhibition held at an undisclosed location in western Ukraine.
“If we have deeper cooperation between Ukraine, the United States, Israel and Europe, we will prepare special equipment for our victory,” he said.
Dmytro, CEO of a Ukrainian drone manufacturer that produces about 1,000 drones a week, told Fox News Digital: “We are three or four steps ahead of other countries. … This is a new kind of war. IT technology war“
Cheap drones now allow small battlefield units to detect and destroy tanks, armored vehicles, and even advanced air defense systems that once required expensive missiles or fighter jets.
This transformation can be seen throughout Western Ukraine, where defense technology centers, secret workshops and testing grounds are now operating; In cities, air raid sirens regularly disrupt daily life.
The drone components and battlefield systems were assembled at a Ukrainian factory at an undisclosed location in western Ukraine.
At one workshop visited by Fox News Digital, workers moved quickly between tables piled high with propellers, fiber optic cables and other classified drone components. Workers say they no longer see themselves as civilians temporarily aiding the war effort. Now most people are viewing Drone production is vital For Ukraine’s survival.
Vitaliy, one of the technicians assembling the kamikaze drones to be sent to the front line, said that he now produces hundreds of drone components a day.
“The targets will be vehicles, tanks, soldiers and positions,” he told Fox News Digital.
A soldier launches an RQ-35 Heidrun unmanned aerial vehicle used for reconnaissance and artillery fire correction in Zaporizhia, Ukraine, February 22, 2026.
referring to the president Donald Trump’s Stating that he would end the war, Vitaliy added, “I am honored because I am helping my country reach peace much faster.” “Peace through force; that’s our motivation. But of course, that’s mostly in our hands.”
Ukraine’s domestic drone production has increased at a dizzying pace. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Serhiy Boyev said earlier this year that the country aims to produce nearly four million unmanned aerial vehicles in 2025 and more than seven million in 2026.
From AI-enabled battlefield systems to Russian electronic warfare-resistant drones, Ukraine’s wartime innovations are exposing weaknesses in traditional Western military doctrine.
At another defense technology center in Lviv, there are rows of interceptor drones. unmanned ground vehicles and remote Operated weapons systems fill an exhibition hall showcasing Ukraine’s rapidly evolving battlefield ecosystem.
“We have about 250 technology companies in the system,” said Volodymyr Cherniuk, co-founder of Iron, a Ukrainian defense technology cluster.
Some drones are designed for reconnaissance, others for evacuation, logistics or direct attack missions. A heavy-lift drone used for night attacks received the nickname “Baba Yaga” from Russian troops, which Cherniuk translated as “bogeyman”.
Another interceptor drone is specially designed. Hunt Iranian-made Shahed drones The weapon used by Russia in night attacks on Ukrainian cities.
“They can go 300 kilometers per hour,” Cherniuk said. “One hundred grams is enough to cover a Shahed.”
“We have a lot of Americans, Canadians and Europeans coming here and asking for our data and feedback from the front lines,” Dmytro said.
The remains of the Russian-made, Iranian-designed Shahed-136 drone, known as Geran-2 in Russia, are on display in Kharkiv on July 30, 2025, along with other recovered drones, glider bombs, missiles and rockets.
As Fox News Digital reported from Lviv, air raid sirens echoed repeatedly across the city; It was a reminder that Western Ukraine remains within range of Russia’s expanding drone campaign.
Russia dramatically stepped up air strikes last week after a brief ceasefire ended. Massive drone attacks targeting cities and logistics centers throughout Ukraine, including areas close to NATO territory near the Polish border.
Ukraine has also increasingly demonstrated its ability to strike deep into Russian territory with long-range drone strikes targeting areas around Moscow and Russia’s energy infrastructure.
But the evolving drone war has also increasingly spread beyond the borders of Ukraine and Russia and into NATO territory.
In recent weeks, drones linked to Ukraine’s long-range strike operations have entered the airspace of Baltic alliance members including Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, triggering political ramifications and resurgent regional concerns. air defense. Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds resigned after his drones crashed near fuel storage facilities near the Russian border.
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Ukrainian and Baltic officials have accused Russia’s electronic warfare and GPS spoofing of sending drones off course, arguing that Moscow is increasingly using electronic warfare not only for defensive purposes but also to create instability and political pressure within NATO countries.
The incidents reveal the same Iranian-designed Shahed drones (and similar long-range drones) that Russia uses nightly against Ukrainian cities technologies Increasingly used by both sides, these technologies are reshaping modern warfare far beyond the battlefield.
Original article source: ‘A new kind of war’: Mass production of fighter jets in Ukraine’s secret factories
