20:34 20.02.2024

Defense Ministry expects that at least 20 countries will join drone coalition

3 min read
Defense Ministry expects that at least 20 countries will join drone coalition

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine expects that at least 20 countries will join the drone coalition, which works in three major areas, said Kateryna Chornohorenko, Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformations and Digitalization.

"So, now we have eight countries that have joined the Drone Coalition. We are working in three huge directions. This is the purchase of drones and unmanned vehicles of Ukrainian production at the expense of financial assistance from partners. This is the supply of ready-made unmanned vehicles from partner countries to the production of partner countries. These are the supplies of the component base, and this is joint work on technological solutions that must be implemented for the effective operation of these systems," Chornohorenko said at a briefing in Kyiv on Tuesday.

The Deputy Minister also thanked Latvia and the United Kingdom for their leadership in the "drone coalition" and called on other countries to join the initiative.

"We believe that the eight countries are just the beginning. We would like more and more countries to join. And, in fact, our goal is for at least 20 countries to join this initiative very quickly," she said.

Chornohorenko also pointed out that on the issue of drones, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine is currently working on a "formula" for partners.

"We want to come up with a very specific proposal, which will look like this. All assistance from partners should look like a ‘three-component formula.’ This is the purchase of a Ukrainian manufacturer at the expense of partners, because in Ukraine we have the fastest way in the world between the conveyor and combat testing," the deputy minister said.

The next part of the "formula", as she explained, is to receive finished products from partner countries, and the third part of the formula is joint ventures.

"We want to put forward, as a partner country, as a co-founder of the coalition, the issue that we should create joint ventures with our partners … And this three-component formula will be sent to the co-founders of the coalition and we will continue to work to ensure that it is implemented," the Defense Ministry stressed.

According to Chornohorenko, the Ministry of Defense announced an "ambitious goal" within the framework of the drone coalition - to receive one million FPV drones.

"We have been working with colleagues and partners for two months on this task. I would like this goal, which was also stated by the President of Ukraine, to be fulfilled very quickly," Chornohorenko said.

Earlier, the leadership of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine met with military attaches of the member countries of the Contact Group on Defense of Ukraine regarding drones, at which specific steps and actions for the development of the direction were presented.

As reported, in addition to Latvia, Great Britain and Ukraine, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, Estonia and the Netherlands joined the Drone Coalition.

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