The UK has said it will deliver 150,000 war drones to Ukraine by the end of 2026. This will be part of a £750m package of military support. The package also includes air defence systems and is funded partly by frozen Russian assets. Additionally, Ukraine opened a drone factory in the UK in January.
Drones for Ukraine
The government said in a 20 June statement. The announcement highlights the ongoing significance of Ukraine to British foreign policy.
The UK will provide 150,000 drones to Ukraine by the end of the year as part of a £752m funding package to help Ukraine defend their freedom and sovereignty.
Funded by the UK’s £2.26bn Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) loan to Ukraine, the package provides equipment Ukraine urgently needs against Russia’s war of aggression. The loan is backed by the proceeds from immobilised Russian sovereign assets, announced by the Chancellor last year.
Ukraine’s forces are fighting with determination and momentum. We will stand with them for as long as it takes.
Today I have agreed with @FedorovMykhailo that the UK will provide 150,000 Ukrainian made drones and more than 350 air defence missiles and radars. pic.twitter.com/MTZtwlWlCQ
— Dan Jarvis MP (@DanJarvisMBE) June 18, 2026
The UK also announced a British general would take over the Multinational Force for Ukraine Headquarters (MNF-U). This is meant to further cement the military partnership between the UK and Ukraine.
Major General Tom Bateman will assume command next month, in the rank of Lieutenant General, leading the multinational team responsible for coordinating support to Ukraine and helping prepare for the long-term regeneration of Ukraine’s Armed Forces in the event of a peace deal.
The UK pledged to produced massive numbers of war drones in January 2026 as part of so-called ‘Project Octopus.’ Defence minister Luke Pollard said at the time. In this context, the focus on Ukraine remains central for the UK’s strategic military escapades.
Under Project OCTOPUS, the UK and Ukraine will work together to rapidly optimise an Ukrainian designed air defence interceptor for mass production, with the first units anticipated to start being produced in the UK in the coming weeks, before being sent to Ukraine for testing and operational deployment.
The project aims to enable production at scale, with a target of being able to produce thousands of drones per month to support Ukraine’s defence needs.
British militarism, British profits
Ukraine opened an arms factory in the UK in February 2026. It will produce drones at scale for the war against Russia. Ukrspecsystems’ UK director Rory Chamberlain told the BBC.
The war has changed but this keeps soldiers safe and it keeps the nation fighting.
There is your chessboard and another piece has been added – another player has been added to the board that can do different things and that’s drones in modern warfare.
It’s changed how they have to defend themselves and it’s changed how they attack as well.
Britain’s new war economy is being driven by PM Keir Starmer and his cronies. Starmer has decided that UK prosperity is tied directly to a quick pivot towards so-called ‘military Keynesianism’ – despite ample evidence to the contrary.
In fact, this policy is a cynical corruption of the ideas of the economist John Maynard Keynes. And it demonstrably isn’t true. Here is a good breakdown from the armed forces monitor Forces Watch: The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has been used to justify this policy.
Apart from the fact that Keynes was an advocate of government spending ‘in the interests of peace and prosperity’ instead of ‘war and destruction’, as the economist Michael Burke explains, military spending has one of the lowest employment multipliers of all economic spheres.
British arms firms have a vested interest in war and instability. The Labour government cannot be unaware of this. While they fill their coffers, the ultimate losers will inevitably be the civilian populations in the wars they pour arms into.
Featured image via X / the Canary
By Joe Glenton
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