Ukrainian activist and volunteer Serhiy Sternenko said that according to his team’s estimates, about 60% of FPV drones that are supplied to the Defense Forces under state order are «unusable at all or require serious modification.»
Ukrainian activist and volunteer Serhiy Sternenko said that according to his team’s estimates, about 60% of FPV drones that are supplied to the Defense Forces under state order are «unusable at all or require serious modification.»
Sternenko wrote about this on his social networks. «Once again: more than half of the 2 million FPVs from the state are unusable and are in warehouses. How much is this in money? Billions,» the volunteer pointed out.
In his opinion, among the reasons for this situation are logistical, with deliveries taking from one to six months, and the fact that the General Staff directly indicates to the Ministry of Defense the names of the drones that need to be purchased.
«And what are their characteristics or why the motors were screwed on the wrong side — the General Staff is not interested in this. There is either huge corruption here, or hopeless stupidity. Or both in one, I don’t know. But we have to fix it later,» Serhiy Sternenko noted.
TAF Industries, which recently rebranded, responded to the volunteer’s post on Twitter. The company reminded about its program of free drone upgrades if they enter the army with a significant delay.
«We are updating old Kolibri UAVs to modern communication and control standards free of charge for the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We know that some units received Kolibri UAVs from warehouses, which we supplied back in 2024 — both our production and licensed models from the UOP structures,» TAF Industries noted in July.
The company added that they cannot control the logistical processes in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and indicated that any drone that enters the army with a delay of 3-6 months requires refinement.
Serhiy Sternenko wrote about problems with drones under state orders back in late August .
«One day the state will stop buying drones that cannot be used to perform combat missions. But for now the General Staff is issuing an order to buy mostly FPVs. That’s the answer to the question of why we are still forced to save money on drones when the state is contracting for 2 million units,» the volunteer said.
According to him, if at least half of these drones fly, it will be a good result, and he called such activities «a waste of budget money.» Sternenko added that such drones often lie in warehouses for a long time, and the military uses drones donated or modified by volunteers.
«There are also good, high-quality products. But this is less than 50%,» says Serhiy Sternenko.
