The UK and Latvia will jointly lead a capability coalition, which will see thousands of drones supplied to Ukraine, including first-person view (FPV) drones, which have proven highly effective on the battlefield.
Ukraine will receive thousands more drones as Defence Secretary Grant Shapps confirms 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.
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.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said: “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.
“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.”
The UK is also working with NATO Allies Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United States to deliver priority air defence equipment to Ukraine. This partnership, which Canada recently joined, has so far delivered hundreds of short and medium air defence missiles and systems to keep Ukraine’s cities safe from Russian bombardment.
The UK is committed to standing with Ukraine for as long as it takes and has committed to provide £2.5Bn in military aid to Ukraine in 2024/25, an increase of £200M on the previous two years.
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