Ukraine will receive a record 120,000 uncrewed air vehicles (UAVs) from UK suppliers this year, following the award by London of an equipment deal worth £752 million ($1 billion).
Three companies – Malloy Aeronautics, Tekever and Windracers – will provide drones to Kyiv via the package, which was announced ahead of a 15 April meeting of the 50-nation Ukraine Defence Contact Group in the German capital Berlin.
Noting that the order is “the largest of its kind ever supplied by the UK”, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) says it includes “long-range strike, intelligence and reconnaissance, [and] logistics drones”, along with unspecified “maritime capabilities”.
“The majority of this investment will be spent with UK-based companies,” it adds.
“This big boost of battle-proven drones will give Ukrainian forces the capability they need to defend their people and fight back against Russian aggression,” says defence secretary John Healey.
“Deliveries of these new drones to Ukraine have already started this month,” the MoD states. Additional equipment for Kyiv is being provided by the UK in the form of “hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds and thousands of air defence missiles”, it adds.
“Approximately 6,500 one-way attack drones were launched by Russia against Ukraine in March,” the MoD says.
BAE Systems subsidiary Malloy has previously supplied Ukraine with T-150 quadcopter utility drones, while Kyiv’s personnel have already racked up over 50,000h of operational use with Tekever’s AR3 vehicle, used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The company is now producing its enhanced AR3 Evo model, with the new model drawing on extensive lessons learned during the conflict.
Windracers chief executive Simon Muderack describes the company’s autonomous Ultra – used operationally in Ukraine since 2023 – as providing its armed forces with “a resilient, dual-use heavy-lift platform offering long-range operational air support”.
The twin-engined Ultra can carry a maximum payload above 150kg (330lb), and has a range of over 1,080nm (2,000km).
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