Ukraine adapts drones faster when producing them domestically – Kubilius

European Commissioner for Defense and Space Andrius Kubilius stated this in an interview with Ukrinform.

"Ukrainians themselves produce very good drones, and I'm not sure we can relocate Ukrainian production to Europe and possibly scale it up. Ukrainians have created a unique 'ecosystem': you manufacture drones yourselves […] and you understand why some drones stop working or become ineffective, and accordingly, what needs to be changed in them. And you immediately implement innovations," Kubilius said, commenting on the possibility of scaling drone production in partner countries.

He stressed that Ukrainians are on the cutting edge and able to swiftly adapt drones as their effectiveness declines. Replicating this responsiveness in production facilities outside Ukraine would be difficult.

"That's why we need to invest in Ukraine and help Ukrainians build greater capacities for the production of drones and other weapons," Kubilius said.

In his opinion, what Ukraine needs most is not necessarily weapons manufactured in Europe, but financial support to expand its own defense production.

"The Russians are strong in drones, just like the Ukrainians. But that's exactly why we need to invest in Ukraine and help Ukrainians build greater capacities for producing drones and other weapons. And that is why, in my view, Ukrainians currently don't need as much weaponry produced elsewhere in Europe — of course, there are some weapons that are extremely necessary, like Patriot systems and so on — but what Ukraine really needs is our financial support for its defense industry," Kubilius said.

At the same time, he noted that certain types of weapons, such as air defense systems, are not produced in large quantities even within Europe.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament on July 9 that the speed, cost-efficiency, and ingenuity of Ukraine's defense production are impressive — yet the country's defense industry is operating at only 60% capacity.