The UK has said it is stepping up its support for Ukraine, with a target of a tenfold increase in the production and procurement of drones for supply to Ukraine this year.
The UK MoD said this.
Last year, the UK supplied more than 10,000 drones to Ukraine, and this year tens of thousands of drones have already been supplied, with an ambitious target of reaching 100,000 drones in the current financial year.
The record GBP 350 million investment in drones for Ukraine is part of the UK’s GBP 4.5 billion military support this year.
"As the Ukrainian Armed Forces have demonstrated the effectiveness of drones in defending against putin's illegal invasion, the UK has doubled its investment in drones from UK defence companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises, supporting the UK economy and jobs as part of the government's Change Plan," the statement said.
The department added that, convening a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (the Ramstein format) with his German counterpart, the Defence Secretary will also announce that the UK will spend a further GBP 247 million this year on training the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Operation Interflex, which has provided basic combat training to over 55,000 Ukrainian recruits with the participation of 13 partner countries since 2022.
The Defence Secretary will also confirm that the UK will complete the delivery of 140,000 artillery rounds to Ukraine from early 2025, providing a significant boost to Ukrainian forces on the front line.
Also in the Strategic Defence Review published on Monday, the government announced more than GBP 4 billion in autonomous systems and drones for the UK Armed Forces to help learn from Ukraine’s experience. This follows the government’s historic commitment to increase defence spending to 2.5% of UK GDP by April 2027.
As a reminder, the Security Service of Ukraine carried out a unique special operation to simultaneously strike four military airfields in the rear of the aggressor country, the russian federation. As a result of the drone strikes, 41 aircraft were hit, including A-50s, Tu-95s, Tu-22M3s and Tu-160s.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, today, June 4, a meeting of the Contact Group on Defense Issues of Ukraine (Ramstein format) will be held at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
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