United to win: Britain and Latvia launch tender for FPV drone supply to Ukraine as part of Drone Coalition

Great Britain and Latvia have announced a tender for companies to supply FPV drones to Ukraine within the Drone Capability Coalition.

This is reported in a press release published on the British government website.

It should be noted that the tender is open to manufacturers from any country that is a member of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

This selection aims to find suppliers that can "produce drones at a large scale and an affordable price using the capabilities of Western industry."

The first tender will last until June 28, after which representatives of the countries of the Drone Coalition, led by Great Britain and Latvia, will select companies that will receive orders for the supply of drones to Ukraine.

During 2024, new tenders will be announced, taking into account the experience of the first one.

In addition to Britain and Latvia, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden are officially participating in the Drone Coalition.

FPV (first-person view) drones are unmanned aerial vehicles with a video camera that transmits images to the operator and with an attached warhead. They proved highly effective on the battlefield after the full-scale Russian invasion, providing Ukrainian operators with situational awareness to engage enemy positions, armored vehicles, and ships.

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On January 18, the creation of the Coalition of Drones and Radio-Electronic Warfare was reported.

Latvia initiated the creation of the Coalition. The initiative was announced during a meeting between its Minister of Defense, Andris Spruds, and the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, in December 2023.

According to the Latvian minister, this initiative will help the Ukrainian military in the war, where drones have become an essential element of combat operations.

Kateryna Chernohorenko, Deputy Minister of Defense for Digital Development, Digital Transformation, and Digitalization, presented to the representatives of 13 participating countries Ukraine's need for unmanned systems, means of electronic warfare, and technologies that will protect critical infrastructure.

Partner countries expressed their support and understanding of the expediency of creating a coalition.

Ukrainian representatives proposed a form of drone coalition called "50—30—20" to their partners:

• Under this coalition, 50% of the total amount would be used to purchase drones from Ukrainian manufacturers;
• Ukraine is willing to accept 30% of the total amount in the form of finished drones from manufacturers in partner countries;
• The remaining 20%, totaling 100%, would be used as funding for joint ventures.

According to this plan, joint factories should appear in Ukraine.

Kateryna Chernohorenko added that several rounds of negotiations between partners and Ukrainian companies have already provided such an opportunity for joint ventures. The drone coalition includes aircraft, aerial vehicles, and all domains.