Ukraine issued its first export permit for ready-made combat drones from F-Drones
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
Two days earlier, the F-Drones’s U.S. arm announced its first American production site.
On July 1 the State Service of Export Control cleared F-Drones, a Ukrainian drone manufacturer, to ship a batch of F10 systems for the U.S. Armed Forces. Per Interfax-Ukraine, it is the first known case of Ukraine permitting the export of complete combat unmanned systems rather than individual technologies, assemblies or components.
The permit lets F-Drones deliver on obligations under the Pentagon’s Drone Dominance program, a $1+ billion effort to buy more than 200,000 low-cost drones by 2027 (with the full program targeting over 300,000 by early 2028).
In February the company’s U.S. representative, UDD Tech Corp, entered the F10 in Gauntlet I at Fort Benning, where it placed sixth of 25 entrants, made the top 11 and secured a prototype contract to supply 2,000 drones.
On June 29, Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s office announced UDD selected Northwest Ohio — specifically the Village of Holland — for its first U.S. assembly and manufacturing center. The project is expected to generate $18.4 million in annual payroll by 2029 in Lucas County, creating at least 300 jobs.
The permit went through the existing Interagency Commission route, ahead of Ukraine’s new controlled-export framework entering into force. That framework, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on June 30 (with implementation effective July 1), sets a 30-day application review and a UAH 15 million minimum for finished products, with 20 percent of export proceeds from finished products — and 30 percent from components — funding the Ukrainian state defense industry fund.
F-Drones CEO Stas Khutor: “Exports today are the strength of the Ukrainian military tomorrow.”
What to watch: the first shipment under this permit, export approvals for other Ukrainian manufacturers and the Ohio facility timeline.
