UK and Latvia launch industry competition to provide thousands of drones for Ukraine

In February, the UK and Latvia announced that they would lead the new Drone Capability Coalition, designed to rapidly supply Ukraine with tens of thousands of first-person view drones, Report informs referring to the UK government website.

Today, the UK and Latvia have opened the bidding for companies to supply FPV drones to Ukraine, on behalf of the Drone Capability Coalition. This competition aims to produce these drones at scale and an affordable price point, leveraging the strength of Western industry.

Industry can find the details of how to apply via the Defence Sourcing Portal. This competition is open to industry from any nation in the Ukraine Defence Contact Group.

Companies have until 28 June 2024 to submit their proposals, which will then be considered by the Drone Capability Coalition members and evaluated. Successful companies will receive orders to supply drones to Ukraine and, upon receipt of positive operational feedback, the intent is to place larger, follow-up orders for FPV drones. Additional FPV competitions are expected to take place through 2024, building on the lessons learned from this first competition.

First-person view drones have proven highly effective on the battlefield since Russia’s full-scale invasion, providing Ukrainian operators with situational awareness to target enemy positions, armored vehicles, and ships with explosive ordnance.

Members of the coalition include the UK, Latvia, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, and Ukraine. Further countries are considering joining the coalition.