UK to deliver large drone package to Ukraine
Image by sezer66 / copyright Shutterstock
It comes as the Defence Secretary John Healey co-chaired the 34th meeting of the 50-nation strong Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Berlin today, alongside German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, Ukrainian Minister of Defence Mykhailo Fedorov and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
The new package, the largest of its kind ever supplied by the UK, will include thousands of long-range strike drones, intelligence and reconnaissance drones, logistics drones and maritime capabilities, which are all battle-proven on Ukraine’s frontline. Deliveries of these new drones to Ukraine have already started this month.
Drones are proving critical to both Ukrainian counterattacks across the frontline over the past months, as well as their defence against continued Russian attacks. Approximately 6,500 one-way attack drones were launched by Russia against Ukraine in March 2026, a significant increase on February’s total.
In a boost to British business, the majority of this investment will be spent with UK-based companies, including Tekever, Windracers and Malloy Aeronautics,creating new UK jobs whilst defending Ukraine. The British drone sector is rapidly advancing and supports both UK security and wider European deterrence, while driving skills and innovation in every region of the UK.
Defence Secretary John Healey MP said: "In the fifth year of Putin’s brutal war, the UK is stepping up further and providing the highest ever number of drones for Ukraine this year.
"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.
"With eyes on the Middle East in recent weeks, Putin wants us to be distracted, but Ukrainians continue to fight with huge courage and nothing will distract us from continuing to stand with them for as long as it takes to secure peace."
The new drone package is backed by the UK’s wider £3 billion military support for Ukraine this year, as well as ERA funding. The Defence Secretary will also confirm that the UK will be providing hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds and thousands of air defence missiles for Ukraine this year.
This follows the new world-leading defence partnership, agreed last month, that will see the UK and Ukraine work together to boost global defensive capability against the proliferation of low cost, high tech military hardware, including drones.
The UK continues to play a leading role in international support, with Healey convening and co-chairing the Ukraine Defence Contact Group alongside Germany, working closely with allies across NATO and beyond. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves is also expected to announce further support for Ukraine later today at a meeting of international finance ministers in Washington DC.
Today’s announcement builds on the UK’s recent £500 million air defence package announced in February at the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
That package included £150 million for NATO’s Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative, enabling the rapid delivery of air defence interceptors, alongside the provision of more than 1,000 Lightweight Multirole Missiles manufactured in Belfast.
It also supported a £390 million deal to boost collaboration between UK and Ukrainian industry, including the transfer of production and support for air defence systems to Ukraine.
