UK defence secretary John Healey has outlined new plans to send thousands of interceptor missiles to Ukraine every month, with the Ukrainian-developed UAV to be shared with the UK to help in the fight against Russia. Speaking at DSEI, Healey outlined ‘Project Octopus’, a new partnership between the UK and Ukraine. Under the project, Ukraine would share technology developed for a new interceptor drone that had proved highly effective against Iranian-made, Russian-deployed Shahed one-way attack drones and cost less than 10% of the Russian systems destroyed. According to Healey, the UK would in turn “rapidly develop” this Ukrainian interceptor drone – with the IP and technology shared with the UK – to mass produce it. Thousands of small interceptor drones are planned to be sent to Ukraine every month.What impact will the massive drone attack on Russian territory have on the future of the war in Ukraine?UK bets big on drone investment and boosts its drone deliveries to Ukraine tenfold “It demonstrates that wartime necessity really is the mother of constant invention,” he said. “It [Project Octopus] means we have access to the best and developing battlefield technology for our own forces”. The agreement followed investment from Ukraine’s largest drone manufacturer, UKRSPECSYSTEMS, which announced that it would invest £200 million (US$271.2 million) into two new UK facilities – the first major investment by a Ukrainian defence company in the UK, according to Healy. At DSEI, other UK-Ukraine drone partnerships reared their heads, as the UK sought to boost drone output for its armed forces. This includes a joint venture between the UK firm Prevail Partners and Ukrainian manufacturer Skyeton for its Raybird UAV. The drone is, as Shephard reported, to be submitted for Project Corvus as a potential bid to replace the Watchkeeper drone. “We know that whenever equipment is in the hands of the war fighter, whoever can get that new technology into their hands fastest has the edge....
First seen: 2025-09-12 14:48
Last seen: 2025-09-12 16:55