Ukrainian "Sokils," "Hydras" and "Kruks": over 400 new UAS codified since start of year – Defence Ministry
Drone Industry
Since the beginning of 2026, 413 unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) have been codified and cleared for use by the Defence Forces of Ukraine. Almost all of them are Ukrainian-made.
This was reported by the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, according to Censor.NET.
It is noted that over 30% more unmanned aircraft systems have been codified so far than during the same period in 2025, and over 73% more than during the same period in 2024.
Innovative UAS
The aerial drone arsenal has been expanded with modern, high-tech UAS that are already proving effective in combat conditions.
The systems codified since the beginning of 2026 include:
- aerostat-, fixed-wing- and copter-type aerial reconnaissance drones;
- fixed-wing and copter-type strike drones;
- FPV drones;
- bomber UAS;
- interceptor drones;
- relay drones;
- target drones;
- fibre-optic UAS;
- front-strike drones;
- deep-strike drones.
The Ministry of Defence notes that copter-type strike drones and fibre-optic UAS account for the largest shares of the codified systems. The number of front-strike drones has also increased significantly.
New Ukrainian UAS
Since the beginning of 2026, the arsenal of the Ukrainian Defence Forces’ aerial warriors has been expanded with the Ukrainian Halka, Skyriper Minotaur, Hor Elks, Beshket, Shturm, Bababoom and Zorro systems.
The new Blinc, Optoslon, Chumak, Sokil, Hydra, Kruk, Dzyha, Khariok, Buran, Bilyi Vovk and Sichen UAS, among others, have also been codified.
