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Rada approves Ukraine’s new military branch for unmanned technologies

Ukraine’s Parliament has approved the creation of Unmanned Systems Forces, a new military branch, integrating various unmanned and robotic systems across multiple domains.

byYuri Zoria

03/09/2024

2 minute read

presentation ukrainian armed forces' branch unmanned systems forces kyiv 11 june 2024 drones uav

Presentation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ new branch, the Unmanned Systems Forces in Kyiv on 11 June 2024. Photo: Suspilne Novosti/Nikita Galka

Rada approves Ukraine’s new military branch for unmanned technologies

On 3 September, Ukraine’s Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, approved legislation to establish the Unmanned Systems Forces as a new branch of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The bill, numbered 11507, was passed in its second reading and as a whole, according to Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a member of parliament from the Voice party.

“The Rada supported the inclusion of Unmanned Systems Forces into the separate branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the MP wrote on Telegram.

Zhelezniak reported that 294 deputies voted in favor of the decision.

The Unmanned Systems Forces will be the world’s first military branch dedicated to utilizing air, surface, underwater, and ground drones systems in combat operations.

The Ukrainian frontlines are heavily saturated with drones from both sides, used for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and target acquisition. Cheap one-way attack FPV drones target military equipment, vehicles, and soldiers. The new branch will bolster the efforts of drone units across other arms of the Ukrainian military.

Unmanned Systems Forces

The initiative for this new military branch was set in motion on 6 February 2024, when President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed Decree №51/2024 “On Increasing the Capabilities of the Defense Forces.” The project was developed by the Ministry of Defense in collaboration with the General Staff, with the government backing the initiative on 7 May.

Vadym Sukharevskyi, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, was appointed as the commander of the Unmanned Systems Forces on 10 June. Speaking at the “Ukraine. Year 2024” forum in February, Sukharevskyi outlined the goals of this new branch:

“The aim of our team is based on three main theses: efficiency, systematicity, and analysis of the use of Unmanned Systems Forces. This will be a powerful fist that will solve real tasks on the battlefield, which will be a reliable support shoulder for our combat brigades.”

On 20 August, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the bill that establishes the new military branch and allocated 24 billion hryvnias ($580 million) for the procurement of unmanned aerial vehicles for the Security and Defense Forces.

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