Germany will finance the production of 50 000 “Shrike” FPV drones for Ukraine. This is one of the largest known purchases of drones for Ukraine by a Western government.
Reuters reports this, citing a source.
Shrike UAVs have been manufactured by “SkyFall”, one of the largest Ukrainian drone manufacturers, since 2023. They are equipped with software from the American defense technology company Auterion, which autonomously tracks and attacks moving targets in the final phase of flight.
The “Auterion” CEO Lorenz Mayer confirmed the size of the contract. He added that it is worth approximately €90 million and will be financed by a European country. Mayer said that some of the drones have already been delivered to Ukraine, and the rest are due to be shipped this year.
“SkyFall” confirmed Germanyʼs involvement but said it could not comment on the details of the purchase.
- The “Shrike” has recently gained popularity in the United States. In April, the “Shrike” 10-F version, which “SkyFall” developed with the British company “Skycutter”, topped the leaderboard in the first phase of the Pentagonʼs Gaunlet program, a $1.1 billion initiative that aims to test and then purchase hundreds of thousands of drones.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.