The U.K. is to fund a three-year drone production initiative in cooperation with Ukrainian defense firms, Kyiv’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov has said.
In a Facebook post on Monday, Umerov said that the agreement had been reached during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to London, where he met with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Describing the initiative as a “mega-project” involving the design of drones by Ukrainian companies and large-scale manufacturing by British defense firms, Umerov said: “This will enable British defense companies to rapidly design and produce state-of-the-art drones on a large scale.
“This will support the scaling of advanced technologies, increased drone production and the integration of our defense industries.”
He added that, according to the agreement, all drones produced under the project during the war will be allocated to Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
After the war, output will be divided between British and Ukrainian militaries.
Drone war
Since the start of the full-scale Russo-Ukrainian war in February 2022, drones have become increasingly important on the battlefield, with the Ukrainians being particularly apt at innovating and adapting to their use as a tool of war, which has not gone unnoticed by Kyiv’s allies.
Apart from the use of drones for reconnaissance and against ground military targets, such as enemy infantry and vehicles on the battlefield, Ukraine has also successfully developed an array of long-range drones used against enemy targets far behind enemy lines, such as oil refineries and weapons factories.
Ukraine has also successfully used small drones launched from deep inside Russia to target the Kremlin’s strategic bomber fleet.