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UK to Send 100,000 Drones to Ukraine by 2026 in Largest Military Tech Push Yet

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Vlad Litnarovych
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UK to Send 100,000 Drones to Ukraine by 2026 in Largest Military Tech Push Yet
Keir Starmer, UK Prime Minister, right, and Christopher Luxon, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, inspect a drone at an undisclosed military base, during Operation Interflex exercises, in the West of the UK on April 22, 2025. (Source: Getty Images)

The United Kingdom has pledged to deliver 100,000 drones to Ukraine by the end of the current financial year in April 2026—ten times the volume of previous shipments—in what London describes as a decisive upgrade in its military assistance to Kyiv, according to Reuters on June 4.

British Defense Secretary John Healey is expected to formally unveil the commitment at the 50-nation summit, co-hosted with Germany.

“The UK is stepping up its support for Ukraine by delivering hundreds of thousands more drones this year and completing a major milestone in the delivery of critical artillery ammunition,” Healey said in a statement released ahead of the gathering.

The £350 million ($473 million) drone package is part of a broader $6.1 billion (£4.5 billion) military aid program designed to bolster Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s full-scale invasion, now in its third year.

According to British officials, drones have fundamentally transformed modern warfare—an observation drawn directly from Ukraine’s extensive battlefield use of unmanned systems.

In addition to the drone initiative, the UK confirmed it has completed the delivery of 140,000 artillery shells to Ukraine since January. An additional $334 million (£247 million) will be allocated this year toward training Ukrainian forces.

The announcement also aligns with the UK’s recently endorsed Strategic Defence Review, which emphasizes a transition toward a more lethal and technologically advanced force capable of responding to evolving threats—including renewed aggression from Moscow.

Earlier, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled a sweeping reform of the British Armed Forces, signaling a strategic shift toward “war-fighting readiness” amid rising global threats and mounting instability.

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