Despite DJI’s opposition, Ukraine keeps buying thousands of its drones

Against the company’s wishes, DJI remains by far the preferred drone maker among Ukraine’s defense forces, which have now procured an additional 4,200 Mavic UAVs beyond the 4,000 bought in April.

DJI has been the go-to preference among Ukraine forces since the very beginning of Russia’s invasion in February 2022. The move was initially a logical response among both organized military units and volunteering civilians rushing to get better information on advancing enemy forces. With DJI being the market leader in Ukraine as elsewhere in the world, its drones were both the most abundant and powerful aerial data gathering tools on hand. 

Since then, however, both the mass marketed availability of its drones and the far better tech bang for the buck its products offer have made DJI drones the preferred option in Ukraine. 

The country’s Defense Procurement Agency announced last week it had bought an additional 7,200 DJI Mavic 3E and 1,000 DJI Mavic 3T UAVs worth $27.5 million, following the April purchase of 3,000 DJI Mavic 3E and 1,000 DJI Mavic 3Ts for $14.4 million.

That is part of a wider drive to obtain at least 20,000 DJI drones, including 10,500 for which transaction contracts are already being drawn up. The procurement push comes as cash-strapped Ukraine struggles to slow the Russian offensive in the north of the country, which has made considerable progress since its launch earlier this month.

For its part, DJI has repeatedly stated its opposition to its drone being used in conflicts, and in April 2022 halted imports of its drones into Ukraine and Russia, as evidence of their use and potency spread.

The abundance of the global market leading UAVs in distributors worldwide, however, have permitted supporters of Kyiv to continue buying the gear abroad in large numbers, then transporting those into Ukraine for deployment.

The current campaign to obtain thousands of DJI Mavic drones is being carried out through the official bidding site Prozorro. In addition to being a fully automated, electronic, and transparent manner of making public bids for materials to Ukraine’s government, free access to prices tendered has helped drive costs lower as competitors try to outdo one another. 

The Defense Procurement Agency has said the resulting jockeying allowed it to save around $1.6 million in what it would have otherwise paid market providers for the recent order of 8,200 Mavics.

While DJI remains steadfast in denouncing use of its craft in violent contexts, the clear preferences for its drones among forces fighting to preserve Ukraine’s independent must be something of a balm to the company, as it witnesses US politicians work to push its UAVs out of the market with protectionist bills aiming to assist domestic rivals.