MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. Units of the Ukrainian armed forces are using around 500 types of drones in the conflict in Ukraine, Dmitry Kuzyakin, an unmanned aircraft expert and general designer at the Center for Integrated Unmanned Solutions, told TASS.

"Since the beginning of the special military operation, the Center specialists have conducted internal research into the types of drones used by the Ukrainian forces during the conflict. Statistics as of 2026 indicate that the enemy is using around 500 types of drones. Of these, 12% are fixed-wing aircraft, 88% are multicopter-type. Less than 1% are exotic VTOL-type drones," Kuzyakin said.

The expert noted that the Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) "include both Ukrainian-made drones and those assembled abroad." "These are primarily from Europe and the Baltic states. Aerial drones can be divided into classes: fixed-wing, multi-rotor, helicopter, VTOL, and even weather balloons. They can also be categorized by role: strike, reconnaissance, transport, relay, and bomber. A drone of any class can perform any role. The second issue is the model versioning. It’s fluctuating and continuously changing. A single drone model can undergo significant changes during the production of just one batch. This greatly complicates classification and statistics," Kuzyakin said.

He noted that the number of foreign drone models used by Ukrainian troops "is small and is primarily limited to fixed-wing drones—reconnaissance and relay systems." "In terms of the number of models, foreign-made drones account for just under 2%. This points to two things. First, foreign manufacturers don’t supply a wide range of products. They choose a model and supply only that one, without significantly expanding their product range. Second, foreign manufacturers lack the necessary expertise in strike weapons, multicopters, FPV drones, and so on. They also don’t work with ammunition and weapons, which limits the variety of models," the expert said.