The UK to Supply Thousands of Drones as Co-Leader of Major International Capability Coalition for Ukraine
Ukraine will receive thousands more drones as Defense Secretary Grant Shapps announces today that the UK will co-lead a major drone capability coalition with Latvia for Ukraine.
As part of the coalition, the UK will scale up and streamline the West’s provision of first person view (FPV) drones to Ukraine. FPV drones have proven highly effective on the battlefield since russia’s full-scale invasion, providing their operators with situational awareness to target enemy positions, armoured vehicles, and ships with explosive ordnance.
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By creating a competition to produce these drones at scale and at an affordable price point, the UK will leverage the strength of Western industry. This is the first project to be launched from the £200 million drone package announced by the Prime Minister in January this year. It will see the UK order thousands of FPV drones for Ukraine, including from UK manufacturers, providing a boost to the industry and delivering on the Prime Minister’s priority to grow the economy.
“The UK continues to do all we can to give Ukraine what it needs – upping our aid to £2.5bn this year and committing £200m to manufacture drones, making us Ukraine’s largest drone supplier,” Grant Shapps said.
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