Czech UAC launches production of drones for the Armed Forces of Ukraine
UAC launched serial production of Leleka-LR reconnaissance drones and Bulava strike drones exclusively for the Ukrainian army.
This was reported by the Czech publication E15.
UAC is a branch of the private Ukrainian company DeViRo, which has been developing and manufacturing military-grade drones since 2014.
The company has launched mass production in the Czech city of Kolín and plans to supply about a hundred reconnaissance and attack drones a year.
“Currently, the delivery of unmanned vehicles from the Czech Republic to Ukraine is an absolute priority. In the future, we intend to gain a decisive share of the Central European market in the medium-sized drone category and supply products to the armed forces of NATO and other countries,” explains Stefan Füle of UAC’s management.
Currently, the company employs about 80 people, mostly Ukrainians, at its facilities in Kolin. Only one-fifth of the staff are Czechs. The company says that as it scales up production, UAC will expand its workforce.
“We started trial operation in November and mass production in April. This is literally a military production, our exclusive customer is the Ukrainian army,” says Pavel Bulant, the company’s executive director.
Production of drones
The production of drones begins with the manufacture of precision electronics. The assembly of motherboards and entire electronic units is carried out entirely at the company’s facilities by specialists. They also assemble optical modules.
Other operations include injection molding, 3D printing, and CNC machining of the fuselages and wings of future drones.
“We are almost completely autonomous, with a minimum of subcontractors. We buy electric motors and internal combustion engines for drones from them, for example,” Bulant adds.
The production ends in a large hall with dozens of green plastic shipping containers where disassembled Leleka-LR reconnaissance drones and Bulava strike drones are stored.
In an exclusive report, Militarnyi told about the characteristics of the Leleka-LR scouts in detail. And some of the characteristics and capabilities of Bulava strike drones were first revealed during this year’s Eurosatory 2024 exhibition.
