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September 29, 2025: China has stopped selling drones and drone components to Ukraine. Ukraine’s solution is to ramp up production by its domestic drone manufacturers and obtain more drones and parts from the United States and NATO countries. These drones aren’t as rugged as the Chinese Mavic 3 and 4 models, but they could provide an adequate temporary solution. That might encourage the Chinese to reconsider. China banned the drones to help Russia, but the Russians are losing the war and probably won’t last another six months.

One result of the Ukraine War was the emergence of inexpensive drones as a decisive weapon, as well as a reconnaissance and surveillance system. Drones have been around for decades, but they were complex, expensive, and difficult to operate. That changed in the 1990s when General Atomics introduced its one-ton Predator drone. These were widely used by American and allied forces, along with the larger 4.2-ton Reaper. The second stage of the revolution came in 2016 when the Chinese firm DJI introduced the Mavic quadcopter drone. These were cheap, costing from $300 to thousands of dollars, depending on accessories. By the 2020s, most quadcopter drones cost about $500. More importantly, suppliers provided drone components, so you could build—and often design—your own.

In 2023, a year after Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukrainians were building their own drones, often at home or in scattered workshops. By late 2024, Ukrainians were producing over 150,000 drones a month. In 2025, Ukraine aims to produce up to four million drones annually. By purchasing Chinese components in bulk, thousands of Ukrainian men and women were building these drones for the armed forces or for someone they knew in the military. Troops at the front also build and modify drones to fit their immediate situations. For the soldiers, designing better drones is often a matter of life or death.

The Ukrainians have stayed ahead of the Russians in drone technology and production. The Russian government discourages or even outlaws individuals building drones and instead centralizes drone production. This is the Russian way of war, which gives the Ukrainians an edge in drone quantity and quality. The Ukrainians are defending their homeland, while Russia is having an increasingly difficult time justifying continued fighting, and nearly a million Russians have been killed or disabled in Ukraine.

NATO countries are working to adopt drone technology for their own armed forces. Ukraine has received over $200 billion in military and economic assistance from NATO countries and shares its drone experience and technology with its benefactors. Drones have revolutionized warfare and are causing 60–90 percent of casualties in Ukraine. The Ukraine War is a battle between industrialized countries employing modern weapons. It is the war of the future, one that all armed forces in the world must adopt to remain competitive.

Even before the Ukraine War, drones were being used in irregular warfare in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Africa. Drug gangs have used drones to smuggle drugs into the United States or into prisons to aid escape attempts. Drones are everywhere, despite laws in some countries restricting or prohibiting their use.