Britain steps up support to Ukraine today with a complete package
of £325 million for cutting-edge drones to help fight Putin’s
illegal invasion.
The investment, which will deliver more than 10,000 drones for
the Ukrainian Armed Forces will harness the UK’s world-leading
defence industries to deliver advanced new drone capabilities to
Ukraine throughout 2024.
The announcement was made today by the Defence Secretary during a
visit to Ukraine, his third visit to the country. Accompanied by
the Chief of the Defence Staff, he met President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, where they
reiterated their commitment to Ukraine.
In a significant boost to the £200m drone package announced by
the Prime Minister in January, the now £325m overall funding
commitment will deliver over 10,000 uncrewed platforms – the
majority of which are first-person view (FPV) drones,1000 one-way
attack drones which have been researched and developed in the UK,
as well as surveillance and maritime drones.
Defence Secretary said:
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.
Ukraine’s Armed Forces are using UK donated weapons to
unprecedented effect, to help lay waste to nearly 30% 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.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine have earned significant attention for
their highly effective use of different types of drones –
destroying and damaging thousands of pieces of Russian equipment
and vehicles, using much cheaper systems. Highly manoeuvrable FPV
drones, which allow the operator the ability to finely control
the movements of the drone in real time, have been successfully
used to bypass Russian air defences to hit their targets.
These drones have proven highly effective on the battlefield
since Russia’s full-scale invasion, providing situational
awareness to target enemy positions and armoured vehicles.
Ukrainian forces have also used these drones effectively to
strike at the heart of Russia’s Navy. With more than a £100M of
this package being spent on maritime capabilities, Ukraine will
continue to turn the tide in the Black Sea.
Following a meeting of the US-led Ukraine Defence Contact Group
last month, which convenes more than 50 countries in providing
military support to Ukraine, the Defence Secretary announced that
the UK would co-lead an international capability coalition with
Latvia to bolster Ukraine’s drone capabilities.
The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have both emphasised the
importance of championing international support for Ukraine, and
last month the Defence Secretary called on NATO Allies to commit
even further during a meeting of the alliance’s ministers.
