FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian serviceman of the 13th operational NGU Khartiia Brigade with the call signs 'Chipok' controls the Vampire drone during test and training flight, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at an undisclosed location in the Kharkiv region, Ukraine, April 22, 2025. REUTERS/Marko Djurica/File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain pledged on Wednesday to supply 100,000 drones to Ukraine by the end of the current financial year in April 2026, marking a tenfold increase, after saying the unmanned aerial vehicles had transformed the way wars are fought.
The government on Monday endorsed an independently-produced Strategic Defence Review, which calls for a more lethal, tech-driven army to counter emerging threats, including possible Russian aggression.
Britain, one of Ukraine's staunchest Western supporters, plans to learn from Kyiv's more than three-year fight against Russian invasion, during which drones have transformed the battlefield.
The 350-million-pound ($473 million) drone package is part of a broader 4.5-billion-pound military support initiative for Ukraine, the government said.
Defence Secretary John Healey will make the announcement at a 50-nation Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting in Brussels, 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 ahead of the meeting.
In addition to the drone deliveries, Britain said it has completed the shipment of 140,000 artillery shells to Ukraine since January and will spend a further 247 million pounds this year training Ukrainian troops.
($1 = 0.7402 pounds)
(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti; editing by Mark Heinrich)
