Mass production of more than 5,000 medium and long-range combat drones for Ukraine has begun at a site near Munich, the US-German defence company Auterion said, writes dpa-international.com.

“According to the company and its Ukrainian joint-venture partner Airlogix, the first drones were assembled under an order for the German government due for completion by mid-2027.

The order is worth around EUR 300 million, industry sources estimate. Follow-up orders and a long-term contract are expected under the Ukrainian partnership, which was only established in February this year.

The drone order is part of Germany's continuing broad support for Ukraine since the county’s full-scale invasion by Russia in 2022.

Headquartered in the US county of Arlington, Virginia, Auterion maintains a major European software development hub in Munich and has its original engineering base in the Swiss city of Zurich. In addition to the unnamed site in Bavaria, production is also set to take place at another location in eastern Germany. Two different drone models are involved - one medium-range and the other with a longer range of up to 1,500 km.

Auterion is supplying the software for the drones, including the operating system, while Airlogix is providing the hardware. AI is used in their guidance system to ensure targets are hit despite electronic countermeasures by the enemy. Colloquially referred to as “kamikaze drones”, as they are not intended to return, such devices typically carry payloads of tens of kilograms of explosives up to 100 kilograms or more as they seek enemy targets.

“Germany now has a production line for affordable precision weapons in large quantities”, said Auterion chief executive Lorenz Meier. “We will be delivering tried-and-tested systems before the end of this year - at a cost and production rate that actually make it possible to build up large stockpiles for deterrence”.

“This partnership brings together what neither company could achieve on its own: our battle-tested missiles, Auterion’s autonomous software and Germany’s industrial capabilities”, said Airlogix chief executive Vitaly Kolesnichenko at the launch of mass production.

Meier, a German national, founded Auterion in Switzerland. According to the company, it employs around 300 people. In addition, there are employees at partner firms”, - reads the article.