Member states of the Drone Coalition sign memorandum of understanding establishing joint fund

Leaders of the member states of the Drone Coalition, led jointly by Latvia and the UK, who attended the NATO Washington Summit on Wednesday, 10 July, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) establishing a joint fund.

“Drone Coalition is comprised of 15 countries and their national defence industries. Its purpose is to provide maximum support to Ukraine, which requires establishing of a joint fund. It is vital for Ukraine to remain a step ahead of Russia in terms of military technologies. This will also enhance our national UAV capabilities. In addition to supplying drones to Ukraine, we must closely coordinate and align Drone Coalition’s overall efforts to activate and support national drone industry,” Defence Minister Andris Sprūds underlined.

New Zealand is the most recent country to join the Drone Coalition after signing the MoU.

Countries of the Drone Coalition have already made major contribution to Ukraine’s army by supplying the drones. Latvia allocated €20 million for Drone Coalition this year. Manufacturers and army experts can also test their drones in Latvia and thus work on drone technology upgrades uninterruptedly. 

Drone Coalition also announced a call for proposals for industrial manufacturing of first-person view (FPV) drones. 265 proposals were received and are going through selection procedure. More than 400 companies expressed their intent to submit bids. Most of them were registered in the UK, Latvia and Ukraine. Selection of winners and contracting is expected to conclude in August. Contract will be financed through Coalition’s newly created joint fund. Great Britain, Denmark, New Zealand, Latvia, the Netherlands and Sweden have already committed €58 million euro to the facility.

Member states of the Drone Coalition are also working towards supply of other types of drones, such as reconnaissance and strike drones, AI-operated drones, and counter-drone technologies. Drone Coalition is an intergovernmental framework for supporting Ukraine open to other allies ready to join it.
 

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