UK pledges to send 120,000 drones to Ukraine in its biggest-ever shipment
The UK has unveiled its biggest-ever drone package for Ukraine, pledging to deliver at least 120,000 drones to Kyiv in 2026.
The new package includes long-range strike drones, reconnaissance systems, logistics drones, and maritime unmanned vehicles, with some deliveries having already taken place this month.
The announcement comes as Defence Secretary John Healey meets allies in Berlin for the latest Ukraine Defence Contact Group, alongside German defence minister Boris Pistorius, Ukraine's defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte.
New era of warfare
Drones have become the defining weapon of the conflict in Ukraine. While Kyiv had a technological lead in drone production for some time, Moscow's forces have rapidly caught up.
In March alone, Russia launched around 6,500 one-way kamikaze attack drones at Ukraine, a sharp increase from the previous month.
This week, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that for the first time, Ukrainian forces captured a Russian position using only drones and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs), without sending in any soldiers.
Surrounded by dozens of Ukrainian-made drones and robotic systems, the president appeared in a glossy video on social media to mark Defence Industry Worker Day, an annual holiday established in 2023.
Ukraine has captured Russians before using UGVs, and held positions on the frontline using robot machine guns, but Mr Zelensky said the operation, which happened last year in Kharkiv, was the first to be conducted exclusively by unmanned systems without any infantry support or losses on the Ukrainian side.
Kyiv claims the robot vehicles – operated by the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade – also took an undisclosed number of Russian soldiers prisoner.
This latest drone package from the UK is designed to build on this capability, helping Ukraine carry out more coordinated operations using drones across land, air, and sea.
Announcing the move, Mr Healey 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."
The Defence Secretary also dismissed suggestions that global events could distract from Ukraine.
"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," he added.
As well as supporting Ukraine, the package is expected to benefit the UK economy and support jobs, with most of the funding going to British firms, including Windracers and Malloy Aeronautics.
New partnerships
The announcement is part of the UK's wider £3bn annual military support for Ukraine. Alongside drones, Britain is also providing hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds and air defence missiles this year.
It follows a new UK-Ukraine defence partnership agreed last month, focused on countering the spread of low-cost, high-tech weapons like drones, and boosting joint production and innovation.
This latest drone announcement builds on a £500m air defence package announced in February.
That package included £150 million for Nato's Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative, enabling the rapid delivery of air defence interceptors, as well as more than 1,000 Lightweight Multirole Missiles – known as Martlet by the Royal Navy – manufactured by Thales in Belfast.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is also expected to outline further measures at a meeting of finance ministers in Washington later today.
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