Borovyk: Ukraine faces critical shortage of turbojet engines for jet-powered UAVs

Difficulties in supplying key components

Ukraine has encountered a severe problem of a shortage of turbojet engines, which are critically important for the production of jet-powered unmanned aerial vehicles. This was stated by Valeriy Borovyk, founder of the company First Contact.

According to the expert, the lack of stable access to these units significantly complicates the development of the corresponding production. Borovyk emphasised that Russia has a significant advantage in this regard, as the aggressor state has established its own engine production and purchases them from China.

Alternative ways of obtaining engines

Valeriy Borovyk explained that the Ukrainian side is forced to use unconventional methods to meet the needs of the defence sector. He noted:

«Україна змушена діставати ці двигуни через складні схеми: купувати через треті країни або витягувати як запчастини з інших виробів. А ось у Росії тут є перевага: вони налагодили власне виробництво цих двигунів, а також закуповують їх у Китаї» (Ukraine is forced to obtain these engines through complex schemes: buying them through third countries or extracting them as spare parts from other products. But Russia has an advantage here: they have established their own production of these engines and also purchase them from China), Borovyk stressed.

People's Deputy's position on scaling up

A similar issue was previously highlighted by People's Deputy Serhiy Rahmanin. He drew attention to the fact that due to limited production capacities, Ukraine is currently unable to mass-produce affordable jet-powered interceptor drones necessary to counter Russian UAVs.

Rahmanin emphasised that large-scale production is one of the main challenges in this area. According to him, there are enterprises in Ukraine capable of manufacturing turbojet engines, but their capacities allow them to produce these units only in small quantities. This does not make it possible to fully meet the needs of the Defence Forces.

Growing threat from Russian UAVs

The relevance of the problem regarding access to turbojet engines has increased against the backdrop of Russia's intensive use of jet-powered drones during attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. Valeriy Borovyk previously stated that the threat from such unmanned vehicles may only grow, so Ukraine urgently needs inexpensive means to intercept them effectively.