During his visit to Kyiv, UK Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps announced the allocation of £325 million to purchase more than 10,000 drones for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
During his third visit to Ukraine, Shapps, accompanied by Admiral Tony Radakin, Chief of the General Staff of the British Armed Forces, met with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
Grant Shapps said that the UK is allocating £325 million – £125 million more than previously announced – to supply more than 10,000 drones, most of which are FPV drones, 1,000 attack drones, and reconnaissance and maritime drones.
“The funding will provide more than 10,000 unmanned platforms, most of which are first-person drones (FPV), 1,000 attack drones that have been researched and developed in the UK, as well as reconnaissance and maritime drones,” the British Ministry of Defense stated.
British military aid to Ukraine
It is noted that this is an expansion of the 200 million pound package of drones announced in January by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
“I am stepping up our commitment to equip Ukraine with advanced new drones coming directly from the UK’s world-leading defense industry: straight from the factory to the front line. I call on international partners to join the UK in this effort,” the British Ministry said.
“As more than £100 million of this package will be spent on maritime capabilities, Ukraine will continue to make a difference in the Black Sea,” the ministry added.
The British ministry noted that the Ukrainian military “has earned considerable attention for its highly effective use” of various types of drones, destroying or damaging thousands of pieces of Russian equipment and machinery using “much cheaper systems.”
Drone coalition for Ukraine
The United Kingdom, along with Latvia, leads an international “drone coalition” formed within the framework of the Contact Group on Ukraine’s Defense, known as the Ramstein format. It aims to increase assistance to Ukraine to repel Russian war aggression.
Earlier, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced during a visit to Kyiv in January that London would allocate 200 million pounds to produce various types of drones for the Ukrainian military.
In addition, British officials said that drones for Ukraine would be produced in both countries.
