Another 30,000 first-person view (FPV) drones will be sent to Ukraine following GBP 45 million (EUR 53.3 million) worth of contracts being placed by the international Drone Capability Coalition, co-led by the UK and Latvia, as the UK steps up its leadership in supporting Ukraine in 2025.
The initiative was announced by UK Defence Secretary John Healey alongside Latvian Defence Minister Andris Sprūds at a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group held at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on 9 January 2025.
The Drone Capability Coalition supports Ukraine with uncrewed surveillance and attack capabilities. Funding for the new 30,000 drones comes from UK, Denmark, Netherlands, Latvia and Sweden.
The FPV drones mentioned are effectively loitering munitions that allow Ukrainian operators to manoeuvre past Russian air defences and target enemy positions and armoured vehicles.
The 9 January announcement followed the UK’s GBP 7.5 million investment for the Drone Capability Coalition’s Common Fund, set out in November, and brings the UK’s total investment in the fund to GBP 15 million to date. So far, the fund has raised around GBP 73 million from the UK and partners.
As well as this, Healey confirmed that the UK-administered International Fund for Ukraine now stands at over GBP 1.3 billion, of which the UK has contributed GBP 500 million.
He also outlined how the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) plans to contribute to Ukraine’s defence in 2025 to more than 50 allies and partners gathered for the meeting. Healey discussed the plan with Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov in Kyiv in December 2024.
“The fierce courage of the Ukrainian people continues to inspire the world, and this meeting of more than 50 nations sends a clear message to Putin about the international community’s unwavering support for Ukraine,” Healey stated to the Ukraine Defence Contact Group. “I am proud of the UK’s leadership in supporting Ukraine. From heading coalitions which are delivering essential equipment alongside allies, to training recruits, we’re standing strong with Ukraine against Putin’s aggression.
“Our commitment to provide GBP 3 billion a year of military aid for as long as it takes will ensure Ukraine can defend themselves and is essential to protect the security of the UK – because the defence of the UK starts in Ukraine,” Healey added.
In a further sign of the strength of international support for Ukraine’s efforts to repel the Russian invasion, more than GBP 190 million of extra funding has been committed to the UK-administered International Fund for Ukraine by allies and partners, with Portugal and Germany contributing for the first time, the UK MoD noted on 9 January.
The fund uses financial contributions from international partners to rapidly procure priority military equipment for Ukraine. The new contributions include:
- GBP 67 million from Denmark for capabilities including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs/FPV drones), air defence systems and training equipment;
- GBP 59 million from Norway for specialist capabilities including UAVs/FPV drones and maritime training;
- GBP 43 million from Portugal for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance UAVs;
- GBP 20 million from Sweden to fund the repair of Archer self-propelled artillery systems and maritime training;
- GBP 4 million from Germany for maritime training;
- GBP 1 million from Iceland to fund coastal radars.
The UK MoD additionally stated on 9 January. “As part of the Plan for Ukraine’s Defence in 2025, the UK’s continued leadership on the war in Ukraine throughout 2025 will see an increase to Ukraine’s military capability; will build on the success of Operation Interflex by enhancing the training offered to Ukraine; will strengthen defence industrial co-operation; will increase co-operation with our allies to support Ukraine; and will increase pressure on Russia.”
The solidity of European military support for Ukraine is coming into sharp contrast as the inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump on 20 January approaches. Trump’s previous acquiescence to Russian President Vladimir Putin – he infamously took the word of Putin over his own intelligence services at the July 2018 Helsinki summit that Russia had not interfered in the 2016 presidential election – has Kyiv and its European allies wary of Trump pulling the plug on US military aid for Ukraine.
