Hungary Opens One of Europe’s Largest Drone Factories as Production Shifts Away From China
Hungary’s ABZ Innovation has opened a €7 million drone manufacturing expansion capable of producing up to 3,500 aircraft annually, adding significant new capacity to Europe’s growing domestic drone industry.
Hungarian drone manufacturer ABZ Innovation has opened a major new production facility in Szentendre, significantly increasing Europe’s capacity to manufacture heavy-duty unmanned aircraft.
The €7 million expansion is designed to produce around 2,000 drones per year on a single shift and as many as 3,500 with two shifts, according to CEO and co-founder Karoly Ludvigh. The company describes the facility as one of the largest dedicated civilian drone production sites in Europe.
ABZ expects the expansion to increase its production roughly fivefold by the end of 2027 as demand grows across Europe and the United States.
The new site is approximately four times larger than the company’s previous manufacturing facility. ABZ is targeting a threefold increase in production during 2026, followed by another significant expansion next year.
Building a European drone supply base
The investment comes as European governments and technology companies increasingly focus on building domestic drone production capacity and reducing reliance on Asian suppliers.
ABZ said the additional capacity should help strengthen European manufacturing in a market that remains heavily dependent on Chinese-built drones and components.
The expansion was backed by investors including U.S.-based Assembly Ventures, Germany’s Vsquared Ventures and Hungary’s Day One Capital.
Ludvigh said establishing the capacity to manufacture thousands of industrial drones annually represented a major step for Europe, where comparable production capacity has historically been limited.
The company’s sales are currently concentrated primarily in European and U.S. markets.
Drones already operating in more than 40 countries
ABZ develops heavy-duty unmanned aircraft primarily for agriculture and industrial applications.
Its systems are used for precision crop spraying, spreading seed and fertilizer, industrial cleaning and cargo transport.
ABZ says its drones are already operating in more than 40 countries.
The company’s agricultural L-Series drones are designed to reduce water and chemical consumption compared with conventional spraying methods, while other platforms have been developed for industrial cleaning and cargo operations.
The expansion comes despite the capital-intensive nature of scaling European drone manufacturing. ABZ recorded a loss of around 1 billion Hungarian forints, or $3.2 million, in 2025, largely due to costs associated with increasing production capacity. The company expects to move toward profitability over the coming years.
Europe races to expand drone manufacturing
Although ABZ’s products are currently focused on civilian applications, the expansion highlights a broader shift taking place across Europe: the rapid growth of domestic unmanned systems manufacturing.
The war in Ukraine has exposed the strategic importance of having scalable drone production capacity, while growing concerns over supply-chain dependence have pushed European companies and investors to build more manufacturing capability inside the continent.
ABZ’s new factory adds significant industrial capacity in Central Europe at a time when drones are becoming increasingly important across agriculture, logistics, infrastructure inspection, emergency response and security applications.
For Hungary, the Szentendre facility also adds another locally based manufacturer to Central Europe’s rapidly expanding drone ecosystem.
