A screengrab from CCTV footage showing a DJI Matrice 300 RTK UAV. (CCTV)
Ukraine has purchased 64 reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) following charity ‘dronations'.
The State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine (SSSCIP) announced on 1 August that 64 “reconnaissance” UAVs will be displayed in Kyiv. The display, scheduled to occur on 2 August, will include two WB Electronics Group Fly Eye 3.0 UAVs, 30 DJI Matrice 300 Real Time Kinematic (RTK) UAVs, and 30 ‘hobbyist' UAVs – all of which have been “dronated” from organisations and individuals around the world to the Army of Drones, the announcement stated.
The baseline Fly Eye 3.0 UAV is designed to operate at altitudes of up to 3,280 ft (1,000 m) and to travel at speeds of between 60 and 120 km/h, and can remain aloft for at least 2.5 hours.
One Skyeton Raybird UAV and one Culver Aviation SKIF UAV, produced in Ukraine, will also be on display, the announcement added.
In July, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy launched an ‘Army of Drones' appeal to help fund the procurement of a fleet of military-grade UAVs. Zelenskyy also appealed for commercial UAV “dronations”. Colonel Oleksii Noskov, assistant commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces, added that these “army of drones will allow us to constantly monitor the 2,470 km long [1,535 miles] front line and to field an effective response to enemy attacks, using modern technology”.
Ukraine is also investigating possible deals in Israel, Japan, Portugal, and the United States, Yury Shchygol, head of Ukraine's cyber security and intelligence service, said in a separate announcement in July.
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