Ukraine is ready to export its weapons, like the fearsome sea drones that helped it cripple Russia’s Black Sea Fleet

• Ukraine wants to start exporting some weaponry it’s making at home, like its naval drones.
• It is still at war, but industry says exporting would be a win for it and the military.
• Zelenskyy said exporting what Ukraine makes too much of would let it better address shortfalls elsewhere.

Ukraine is taking steps to begin exporting some of its weapons, such as the naval drones it has used to pummel Russia’s navy in the Black Sea.

At first glance, permitting companies to export weaponry abroad when the country is at war and its growing domestic defense industry has been critical to keeping Ukraine in the fight seems deeply counterintuitive.

Ukraine, both its political and industrial leadership, has been thinking carefully about this, though.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the plan is controlled exports of certain types of weapons, ones where Ukraine is making more than it needs. He pointed to naval drones and anti-tank weapons as areas where there is a surplus. The funds from exports could then be put into aerial drones, which are always needed in greater quantities.

In pursuing exports, Ukraine intends to prioritize supporting the front-line warfighters and securing domestic stockpiles over exports, as well as ensuring its war tech doesn’t fall into enemy hands.

“During a war, no one wants to take risks, but we need money to produce certain very necessary types of weapons, like drones for the front,” Zelenskyy told reporters, according to local media.

Within two weeks, Ukraine will present concepts for three new export platforms: one for the US, one for Europe, and one for other interested partner nations, he said.

The president said Ukraine wants to work with countries that have helped it. “Ukraine will not engage in ‘gun charity’ — helping those who don’t care about Ukraine,” he said.

“We are ready to work with those who have truly supported us and our independence,” Zelenskyy said, explaining that “Ukraine is offering all its reliable partners our technologies that have already helped us in the Black Sea.”

This is a big step for Ukraine, which tightly controls weapons exports right now. The domestic defense industry is eager to see a change, with industry leaders arguing that it will make it easier for companies to innovate and efficiently produce at scale, allowing them to manufacture weapons for the military more effectively.

Zelenskyy said recently that Ukraine can produce more sea drones than it needs, which means it can either cut production or sell off the surplus. With demand from partner nations, he said, there’s no reason to reduce output.

Zelesnkyy said it is “the Ukrainian companies and the Ukrainian army that have one of the strongest experiences in modern warfare — and this is largely about cutting-edge weapons and advanced technologies.” Naval drones represent an important area of emerging combat tech where Ukraine has experience, and the West has been paying close attention.

Exporting to help Ukraine

Ukraine’s defense production has soared. Zelenskyy said that 30% of the equipment his military used last year was made domestically. He wants to hit 50% by the end of 2025.

Ukraine desperately needs that equipment to fight Russia’s larger military; however, a problem acknowledged by Ukrainian government officials is that defense manufacturers can make more than they do, limited by the domestic defense budget. That’s inefficient for industry.

Serhiy Goncharov, the CEO of the National Association of Ukrainian Defense Industries (NAUDI), which represents about 100 companies, told Business Insider that getting money from exports would put industry in a better position to fuel weapons production with greater efficiency and at lower cost. It could also drive innovation, with new funding going into research and testing.

Goncharov said that exporting some military production “would increase the potential of the defense of Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s naval drone fleet

Ukraine’s growing fleet of explosive-packed naval drones has harassed, damaged, and even sunk ships from Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. The low-cost craft have carried out one-way attacks, launched missiles, gathered intelligence, and laid mines, giving Ukraine striking power at sea even without a traditional navy.

Combined with missiles and other weapons, the drones have forced Russia to pull much of its Black Sea Fleet. It marks a major strategic shift achieved with systems far cheaper than warships.

Ukraine’s efforts have inspired a new interest in naval drones among NATO partners, with companies working on the technology and militaries testing the technology in the Baltic Sea, which NATO allies share with Russia. The US military has explored the offensive potential, and it has also begun training warships to fight off attacks by drone boats.

US Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s supreme allied commander in Europe, said last year the way Ukraine used drones to move Russia’s navy an “arbiter of things in the future.” He said “there seems to be a big role for unmanned maritime systems into the future.”

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