Information for entrepreneurs

As a coordinator of Drone Coalition, Ministry of Defence has created a stable supply of FPV Kamikaze and other combat drones produced by Latvia to Ukraine. To ensure that functional and electronic warfare (EW), and combat characteristics of these UAVs are in line with expectations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, drones go through a number of tests of various complexity. Drones that pass tests successfully are certified and added to  arsenal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Procurement and testing of FPV Kamikaze is conducted in stages because technology is still going through a phase of rapid development.

As a technology, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are currently going through a phase of rapid evolution, technological transformations and new tactical applications. Latvia and other Allies need to build drone manufacturing, research and development capacities that are adequate for supplying National Armed Forces of Latvia (NAF) with necessary UAVs, as well as supporting the continuity of drone research, development and manufacturing framework. NAF have created a dedicated drone and electronic warfare training area to enable Latvian manufacturers develop and upgrade FPV Kamikaze and other UAV systems.

Training area, training area rules and calendar are openly available to all business members of the drone coalition procurement programme. National Armed Forces of Latvia are also working on UAV Training Centre in scope of national drone competitiveness initiative. It will primarily provide training and also advise industry on technical and tactical characteristics of drones.
 

New international procurement tender under the Drone Capability Coalition

The second international procurement tender has been launched within the Drone Coalition, with the aim of procuring and delivering to Ukraine advanced tactical drone aircraft with increased autonomous operation capability, night capability and other enhancements. The tender also includes interceptor drones capable of shooting down enemy-launched drones.

The tender aims to provide Ukraine with the necessary technology to fight against an invader, as well as to promote the ability of Western countries to mass produce drones at an affordable price, thus strengthening the domestic 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.

The tender will result in the purchase of up to 15 Advanced Tactical Strike Missile packages and 5 Tactical Interceptor Missile packages for testing. The industry members that pass testing will be contracted to produce the drones on a large scale. Companies have until 14 October 2024 to submit applications for the advanced tactical strike drones and until 11 November for the interceptor drones. The applications will be assessed by competent experts from the Drone Coalition Member States.

At the same time, the first Drone Coalition procurement announced on 3 June this year for the purchase of First Person Viewing (FPV) UAVs for Ukraine has received 265 applications from operators of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group member states. From these, 15 companies were shortlisted and selected whose proposed UAV systems met the qualification criteria. The drones offered by the companies are currently being tested and the successful companies will be contracted for a large-scale procurement.

Grant competition

In response to interest from industrial stakeholders, in order to create more favourable conditions for the industry, Ministry of Defence announced call for proposals under the UAV development support grant scheme on 14 May 2024.

Aim of the grant project competition was to support the development of new products and technologies required to enhance Latvia’s drone capabilities in two key areas:

• next generation guided projectiles (UAVs equipped with projectiles) and components, such as alternative UAV navigation systems, batteries and engine technologies, SWARM technologies, disruptive UAV technologies (including sensors)
• electronic warfare systems supporting UAVs and counter-drone technologies, such as individual alerting systems for detection of other UAVs, EW transmitters for precision-guided munition, counter UAV drone systems using electromagnetic and kinetic impact

This was the second call for proposals under this grant scheme in 2024. First call of proposals concluded on 29 February 2024. The second call of proposals concluded on 21 June 2024.

Compared to other calls, this project selection round was more focused on development of UAV technologies and gives clearer operational guidelines to applicants.

Additional details:

• Total funding under the MoD grant scheme: €600,000
• Deadline: 21 June 2024
• Additional information: droniem@mod.gov.lv.
• Competition rules on website www.mod.gov.lv

Latvian drone capability initiative

The experience of the war in Ukraine calls for an active promotion of domestic development of drone capabilities. Therefore, the Ministry of Defence has launched the Latvian drone capability initiative, in which 20 million euros will be invested in 2024. The aim of the initiative is to strengthen the drone capabilities of the National Armed Forces.

The initiative will develop infrastructure in Latvia and will also include the acquisition of UAVs for the Armed Forces. 10 million euros of the total funding will be allocated for acquisitions from local industry.

In June 2024, a drone training and testing range was opened at the Selonia Military Training Area. The range will be used by the Latvian drone industry for testing its equipment, and will regularly host allies and drone coalition member states for drone and electronic warfare tests. Testing drones develops the domestic industry, tests the technical capabilities and tactical applications of drones, and improves the technology to provide the best possible drones available in the industry.

Additional information and instructions about your participation in business support programmes available at droniem@mod.gov.lv.