United to win: Latvia pledges additional €20 mln to help Ukraine build drone army

This year, Latvia plans to allocate 20 million euros towards the coalition of drones for Ukraine, as well as another 20 million euros towards strengthening its own military capabilities through the use of drones.

The Minister of Defense of Latvia, Andris Spruds, announced this, according to LSM.

"Seeing the importance of drones in war and guided by the experience of Ukraine, we can announce the launch of a drone initiative this year. We can metaphorically talk about creating an army of drones," Spruds said.

This means that Latvia will supply Ukraine with drones and more actively implement these technologies in its own armed forces.

The 20 million euros allocated for Ukraine provide for both the creation of infrastructure and the purchase of drones, particularly from Latvian companies, in the amount of at least 10 million euros.

Spruds mentioned that the seven companies with whom they negotiated the purchase of drones back in June have successfully passed the drone tests.

"Our ambition is up to 1,000 drones, which can also be sent to support Ukraine," the minister added.

The Latvian Military Museum will host a hackathon of ideas, "Drones for Ukraine," from May 29 to 30.

Companies, engineers, technology enthusiasts, and students will present new ideas for developing guided munitions, alternative navigation systems, non-standard communication, and anti-drone systems. Almost 20 teams submitted applications.

"We are strengthening the overall [drone] ecosystem and, at the same time, our own industry that can innovate, develop, and deliver these technologies both for our armed forces and in support of Ukraine," Spruds concluded.

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In January, Latvia led a coalition of drones within the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in the Ramstein format.

The head of the Latvian Defense Department, Andris Spruds, said that the Baltic country is participating in the creation of a coalition of almost 20 countries to arm the Ukrainian military with "thousands" of new unmanned aerial vehicles.

"The main goal is to do everything so that as many of these drones as possible are delivered to Ukraine," Spruds said.

According to a Latvian colleague, this initiative will help the Ukrainian military in the war, where drones have become essential for combat operations.

In total, 14 countries have already announced their participation in the coalition — Latvia, Ukraine, Great Britain, Australia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Canada, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany and Sweden. Other countries may join them.

So far, coalition members have raised more than 500 million euros to provide drones to Ukraine.

It should be noted that 200 million pounds from the British defense aid package to Ukraine will be directed to reconnaissance, long-range, and maritime unmanned aerial vehicles.