UK floods Ukraine with 85,000 drones as Defence Secretary warns West must outmatch Putin’s escalating air war
Britain has supplied Ukraine with more than 85,000 military drones in just six months, the Defence Secretary will announce, as Russia intensifies its barrage of one-way attack drones.
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John Healey is expected to tell allies that £600 million has been spent this year alone to fast-track drone deliveries for Kyiv’s forces.
The drones, which include tens of thousands of short-range first-person view models, are being used to scout enemy positions, carry out precision strikes, and hit Russian targets behind the front line.
Speaking in Brussels at the latest Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting, Healey will warn that Western countries must “ramp up drone production to outmatch Putin’s escalation”, after a surge in Russian attacks and incursions into European airspace.
Read more: Russian drones expose NATO’s air defence gaps as expert warns Britain’s security is on the line
Figures shared by Western officials show that in September, Russia launched around 5,500 one-way attack drones into Ukraine, up from 4,100 in August.
By mid-October, more than 2,400 had already been launched, with strikes aimed at energy infrastructure, including gas storage and production facilities.
Officials said Moscow was “seeking to target those, unfortunately quite effectively,” as Ukraine scrambles to protect its power supplies before winter.
Last month, Healey and Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal signed a technology-sharing agreement to co-develop an interceptor drone designed to take down Russian aerial attacks.
Battlefield data from Ukraine is being used to refine and mass-produce the systems, with thousands of new models expected to be sent every month.
Healey, who is co-chairing the Brussels meeting alongside Germany, will say: “Putin’s dangerous escalation in Ukraine and across Europe must be matched by ramping up our drone production and strengthening NATO’s air defences.
“The UK is stepping up our support to Ukraine by delivering over 85,000 drones in the last six months and signing new industrial partnerships to rapidly develop thousands of interceptor drones. This is growing jobs in both the UK and Ukraine.
“I am also extending the UK’s commitment to NATO’s Eastern Sentry air policing mission to the end of the year to continue to deter Putin from further testing the Alliance.”
He will also confirm the Royal Air Force’s role in the Eastern Sentry mission will continue until December, with British Typhoon jets flying defensive patrols over Polish airspace following recent Russian incursions.
Meanwhile, British counter-drone specialists will train Moldova’s armed forces in how to detect and neutralise enemy drones, according to the Ministry of Defence.
The £600 million spent on drones forms part of a record £4.5 billion defence package pledged by the UK Government this year, with British companies including Tekever, Windracer, and Malloy among the suppliers.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer recently said the UK was ready to move ahead with plans to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine’s war effort and apply pressure on Moscow to enter peace talks.
Western officials said there was “real momentum for the first time in a long time”, with expectations that progress could come within weeks.
Although not yet finalised, the proposals are being described as a “major turning point” that could help secure Ukraine’s fiscal stability for years to come.
Officials also said a new “large UK sanctions package” would soon be unveiled, coordinated with the EU, targeting Russia’s energy sector, its shadow fleet, and nations profiting from Russian oil and gas exports.
One senior source said: “We’re trying to show Putin this war is not only enormously costly—450,000 casualties a year for less than one per cent of Ukraine’s territory—but that Ukraine is building for the long term. The economic pressure will only tighten from here.”