United to win: Latvia to send Ukraine record shipment of drones
Photo: Andris Spruds / X
Latvia is getting ready to send 1,400 drones from its manufacturers to Ukraine. This marks the largest transfer of drones the country has made.
The Minister of Defense of Latvia, Andris Spruds, reported that on X.
"The largest batch from Latvian manufacturers is ready to be shipped to Ukraine," Spruds wrote.
Spruds stressed that Latvia will continue to support Ukraine until victory.
"This completes the procurement by the Ministry of Defense of over 2,700 drones of the Latvian industry for Ukraine," the minister noted.
As part of the International Drone Coalition, Latvia has transferred 3,000 combat drones of various types to Ukraine.
Sagatavota nosūtīšanai uz 🇺🇦Ukrainu Latvijas ražotāju apjomīgākā pakotne – 1400 droni. Tādejādi ir noslēdzies Aizsardzības ministrijas iepirkums no Latvijas industrijas par vairāk nekā 2700 dronu piegādi Ukrainai.
Starptautiskās dronu koalīcijas ietvaros kopumā Latvija… pic.twitter.com/y9AsADyLyk
— Andris Spruds (@AndrisSpruds) August 22, 2024
For reference:
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 December 2023 meeting between its Minister of Defense, Andris Spruds, and the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov.
According to the Latvian minister, this initiative will help the Ukrainian military in the war, where drones have become essential to combat operations.
As of April 2024, the Drone Coalition led by Latvia has already collected almost 500 million euros to purchase drones for Ukraine.
Latvia also provides a drone testing ground to industrial and military enterprises to continuously improve drone technology.
Furthermore, Latvia declared in July that it would donate over 2,500 drones to Ukraine worth approximately 4 million euros. These supplies will be provided through the leadership of Latvia's "drone coalition."
Great Britain has announced an industry competition to develop and acquire FPV drones, and they have already received 265 applications. The evaluation process is underway, and the first contracts are anticipated to be finalized in August.
Currently, the International Drone Coalition includes 14 countries – Latvia, Ukraine, Great Britain, Australia, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Canada, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Great Britain, France, Sweden and Estonia.
Furthermore, a collective drone coalition fund was established in July to provide funds for the purchase of drones for the Ukrainian military. It has also been revealed that during this same period, Ukraine's armed forces utilized a more significant number of attack drones compared to the Russian occupiers.
