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The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence has announced it will increase its Ukraine drone package to £325 million, pledging to deliver 10,000 drones for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
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The announcement expands on the United Kingdom’s previous pledge of £200 million to support drone capabilities in the besieged country.
A majority of the drones delivered will be first-person view drones, alongside 1,000 one-way attack drones developed in the United Kingdom, alongside surveillance and maritime drones.
The package was confirmed by Defence Secretary Grant Shapps during a recent visit to Ukraine, where he met with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov.
Of significant interest in the package is disrupting Russia’s maritime capabilities in the Black Sea, with £100 million of the package earmarked for maritime capabilities.
Secretary Shapps encouraged allied nations to step up their support for Ukraine.
“I am ramping up our commitment to arm Ukraine with cutting-edge new drones coming directly from the UK’s world-leading defence industries – straight from the factory floor to the frontline. I encourage international partners to join the UK in this effort,” Shapps said.
“Ukraine’s Armed Forces are using UK-donated weapons to unprecedented effect, to help lay waste to nearly 30 per cent of Russia’s Black Sea fleet.
“On my third visit to this great country, I was pleased to be able to offer my firm reassurance to President Zelenskyy on the UK’s unwavering commitment to the brave people and military forces of Ukraine.”
This comes as the United Kingdom announced that it had joined Latvia’s drone coalition and will jointly lead the project.
The drones will be delivered for the Ukrainian military to target Russian positions, armoured vehicles, and ships.
First-person view drones have proven invaluable to Ukrainian soldiers, providing combat units with enhanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, and giving them an affordable and accurate means of attacking enemy positions.
Secretary Shapps has outlined that the initiative will streamline drone acquisition, drawing from capabilities across “Western industry”.
“The UK continues to do all we can to give Ukraine what it needs – upping our aid to £2.5 billion this year and committing £200 million to manufacture drones, making us Ukraine’s largest drone supplier,” Secretary Shapps outlined.
“Today, we’re going even further. I’m proud to announce that the UK and Latvia will co-lead an international coalition to build Ukraine’s vital drone capabilities.
“Together, we will give Ukraine the capabilities it needs to defend itself and win this war, to ensure that Putin fails in his illegal and barbaric ambitions.”
