"Changing the course of the war"

London wants to send Ukraine 10,000 drones

British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps (right) announced on Thursday evening after a visit to Kiev that his country will send 10,000 drones to Ukraine.

(Bild: AFP/Ukrainian Presidential Press Service)

The British government wants to support Ukraine with a total of 10,000 drones. This was announced by British Defense Minister Grant Shapps on Thursday evening following a visit to Kiev. France, in turn, is planning the production of military equipment by defense companies on Ukrainian soil.

The UK will increase its existing pledge of drones worth 200 million pounds (234 million euros) to 325 million pounds (380 million euros), Shapps wrote on X (see below). "Drones are changing the course of war," the Defense Secretary posted.

Kamikaze, reconnaissance and naval drones
According to a statement from his ministry, these will mainly be so-called FPV (First Person View) drones. They can be controlled from a cockpit perspective and have been successfully used to evade Russian air defenses and hit their targets, the British press release continued. There are also 1,000 kamikaze drones as well as reconnaissance and naval drones.

According to Shapps, the Ukrainian armed forces have destroyed almost 30 percent of the Russian Black Sea Fleet with the help of British weapons. Drones have proven to be highly effective. Together with Latvia, the UK wants to lead an international coalition to build up Ukrainian drone capacities.

France wants to produce in Ukraine
"Three French companies will work together with Ukrainian companies, particularly in the field of drones and land equipment, to produce spare parts on Ukrainian soil," said French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu.

The first production facilities are due to start operations in the summer. He indicated that the companies include the tank manufacturer KNDS, which is owned by the French armaments group Nexter and the German company Krauss-Maffei-Wegmann.