UK to contribute £7.5M for new drones for Ukraine

The United Kingdom has announced further military support of £7.5 million (almost $9.5 million) of funding for Ukraine for new attack and surveillance drones.

This is said in a statement published on the UK Government’s website, Ukrinform reports.

As noted, these funds will be invested through the drone coalition.This is on top of the £120m of funding announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer last month for Ukraine’s Navy and maritime capabilities which will fund uncrewed surface vessels, and maritime ISR drones.

In addition, the drone coalition will receive an additional £16m from countries including Germany (£10m), Canada (£3m), and Luxembourg (£3m) who have pledged to purchase drones through the coalition. This brings the total fund to £67m, including a total of £15m from the UK.

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On Wednesday, November 20, the British Parliament will debate the Second Reading of the Financial Assistance to Ukraine Bill, which will confirm the UK’s £2.26bn loan to Ukraine for further military equipment as part of the G7 Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) Loans to Ukraine scheme.

As reported by Ukrinform, 50,000 Ukrainian soldiers have completed training in the UK as part of the multinational Interflex operation.