Germany has funded the purchase of 50,000 attack drones for Ukraine, according to Reuters.
It is noted that this order is one of the largest known purchases of drones by a Western government for Kyiv.
The order is for Shrike kamikaze drones from the Ukrainian UAV manufacturer SkyFall, equipped with software from the American defence technology company Auterion, which enables them to autonomously track and engage moving targets during the final stage of flight.
Ukraine has relied heavily on the effectiveness of unmanned aerial vehicles throughout more than four years of war against Russia, and it produces millions of drones annually, as Ukrainian forces carry out thousands of drone strikes every day.
Auterion’s CEO, Lorenz Meyer, confirmed that the contract is worth around 90 million euros and is being funded by a European country. He said that some of the drones have already been delivered to the Ukrainian government, with the remainder due to be shipped later this year.
SkyFall confirmed Germany’s involvement in the project but stated that the company could not comment on the details of the purchase.
The Ukrainian and German Ministries of Defence declined to comment on this information.
The Shrike, an affordable drone that has been in use in Ukraine since 2023, has recently gained recognition abroad.
A version known as the Shrike 10-F, manufactured by SkyFall in collaboration with the British company Skycutter, recently topped the leaderboard in the first round of a competition organised by the Pentagon as part of a US$1.1 billion initiative to procure hundreds of thousands of single-use strike drones.
Meyer said that Auterion is helping to supply Ukraine with a total of 100,000 drones this year in partnership with various equipment manufacturers funded by Western countries.
This also includes a $50 million Pentagon contract for the supply of 33,000 drones, which, he said, had been delivered to Ukraine.