UK Announces Tenfold Increase in Drone Support for Ukraine Amid Major Military Aid Boost
“The UK is stepping up its support for Ukraine by delivering hundreds of thousands more drones this year," Def. Sec. Healey said. The UK’s latest pledge forms part of a broader £4.5 billion military assistance package to Ukraine for the current year—its largest yet.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — The United Kingdom is dramatically ramping up its support for Ukraine, pledging a record £350 million investment to increase its supply of drones to Kyiv from 10,000 in 2024 to an ambitious 100,000 by the end of 2025, according to a press release issued by the UK government.
This landmark commitment was announced Wednesday at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) summit at NATO headquarters, co-hosted by UK Defense Secretary John Healey and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius, with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov in attendance. The UK’s latest pledge forms part of a broader £4.5 billion military assistance package to Ukraine for the current year—its largest yet.
“The UK is stepping up its support for Ukraine by delivering hundreds of thousands more drones this year and completing a major milestone in the delivery of critical artillery ammunition,” Defense Secretary Healey said.
In addition to the drone surge, the UK confirmed the completion of deliveries of 140,000 artillery shells to Ukraine since January 2025. The UK will also invest an additional £247 million this year to expand training programs for Ukrainian forces under Operation Interflex, which has already trained over 55,000 Ukrainian recruits in basic combat skills with support from 13 partner nations since 2022.
The press release emphasized that drones provided by the UK have been instrumental in stabilizing frontlines, repelling Russian attacks, and protecting Ukrainian lives. British Defense Intelligence now assesses that drones account for more combat casualties in Ukraine than artillery, underlining their growing battlefield significance.
The UK's drone package includes a wide range of cutting-edge technologies, from highly maneuverable First-Person View (FPV) drones capable of precision strikes, to interceptor drones that bolster Ukraine’s air defenses, and new fiber-optic tethered drones resistant to Russian jamming.
Low-cost UK-manufactured drones capable of dropping explosives have also been extensively deployed, with reports indicating that FPV and explosive-dropping drones are responsible for 60–70% of all recent damage to Russian military equipment.
As part of its broader commitment to Ukraine and NATO, the UK will contribute £40 million to NATO’s NSATU trust fund, where it serves as the framework nation. These funds will support the rapid procurement of critical supplies, including spare parts, fuel, and combat equipment.
The increased drone aid is also aligned with the UK’s recently published Strategic Defense Review, which allocates more than £4 billion for the development of autonomous systems and drones, reflecting battlefield lessons from Ukraine. The investment underscores the UK government’s commitment to achieving a defense spending target of 2.5% of GDP by April 2027.
“Defense is an engine for growth,” Healey noted. “This investment will help keep us secure at home and strong abroad, while ensuring the UK is a world leader in rapidly developing drone technology.”
The UK’s comprehensive military support signals a clear and enduring commitment to helping Ukraine repel Russia’s invasion and maintain its sovereignty while simultaneously strengthening the UK’s own defense industrial base.
