Russia is building drone empire: over 900 companies are already involved in unmanned industry - Defense News
Russia has invested at least $3 billion in the deployment of mass production of strike drones, including the Shahed.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by Defense News.
It is noted that of the nearly 900 companies in the Russian Federation engaged in the production of drones, 70% are small or medium-sized businesses, which employ nearly 7,000 people.
Between 2022 and 2025, Moscow has allocated at least 243 billion rubles, or $3 billion, exclusively for the development of the drone manufacturing industry.
According to the publication, over the next three years, the Russian leadership plans to spend another 112 billion rubles, or the equivalent of $1.38 billion, on the deployment of all types of drones. It should be noted that this amount does not include the corresponding costs for drones directly in the Russian Federation's military budget.
In addition, Russia often disguises its spending on the UAV industry under supposedly "civilian" programs, such as programs to create drones for "agriculture."
This approach yielded positive results for the aggressor country: between 2023 and 2024, the total production of drones increased by at least 2.5 times, with long-range drones increasing by at least 5 times.
It is also worth noting that for the period 2025-2027, the Russian Federation is also formally allocating 21 billion rubles for the "development of research centers in the field of unmanned technologies," which will be distributed throughout the territory of the aggressor country.
It is worth noting the scale of production in the Alabuga zone, where tens of thousands of workers are involved in the production of Shahed kamikaze drones, also known as Geran-2.
Currently, the company Albatros, which previously formally dealt with "agricultural equipment," is responsible for this project.
