UK to send 10,000 drones to Ukraine within new £325M military aid package

Britain will deliver more than 10,000 drones to the Ukrainian armed forces, the country's defense secretary announced during a Kyiv visit, Azernews reports, citing POLITICO.

The UK will send the drones — most of which are first-person view drones mainly used for reconnaissance — as part of a new £325 million military aid package, Grant Shapps said.

According to the UK's Military of Defense, some 1,000 of the 10,000 drones are "one-way attack drones," while some of the total is made up of maritime drones.

Shapps made the announcement following a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“I am ramping up our commitment to arm Ukraine with cutting-edge new drones coming directly from the UK’s world-leading defence industries — straight from the factory floor to the frontline. I encourage international partners to join the UK in this effort," Shapps said in a statement.

Drones have taken on an outsized role in the conflict in Ukraine, both for surveillance and attack purposes, helping to make up for Kyiv's relative lack of troops.

In February, Zelenskyy announced a new "Unmanned Systems Forces," a new section of Ukraine's armed forced bringing the military's use of drones under a single command.