Explosion at US defense plant

The emergency occurred in the state of Arkansas at the plant of the military and aerospace equipment manufacturer General Dynamics.

The plant handles explosives and stores various types of ammunition, including Hellfire and Javelin missiles.

Two people were injured and one is missing.

The Czech company UAC has launched the serial production of reconnaissance drones "Leleka-LR" and attack drones "Bulava" exclusively for the Ukrainian army, according to "Militarnyy" referencing the Czech publication E15.

UAC is a branch of the private Ukrainian company DeViRo, which has been developing and producing military-grade drones since 2014. The company started serial production in the Czech city of Kolín and plans to supply about a hundred reconnaissance and attack drones per year.

"Now the delivery of unmanned equipment from the Czech Republic to Ukraine is an absolute priority. In the future, we intend to gain a decisive share of the Central European market in the category of medium drones and supply products to the armed forces of NATO countries and other states," said Stefan Füle, one of the heads of UAC.

Currently, about 80 employees, mostly Ukrainians, work at the company's facilities in Kolín. Czechs make up only one fifth of the entire staff. As production scales up, UAC plans to add more employees.

"In November, we started trial operations, and in April, serial production. This is literally military production; our exclusive customer is the Ukrainian army," said Pavlo Bulant, the company's executive director.