Patria to join with Ukraine’s General Cherry to make drones in Finland

PARIS — Finnish defense company Patria is teaming up with Ukrainian drone maker General Cherry to jointly develop drones as well as start production of drones in Finland.

The companies signed a letter of intent on Sunday to combine General Cherry’s expertise in small drones and Patria’s unmanned-technology expertise and defense-industry experience, which will allow them to jointly develop unmanned vehicles for Western European defense needs, they said in a statement on Sunday .

The announcement is part of a broader wave of European defense-industrial cooperation with Ukrainian drone makers. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in December announced plans to produce various Ukrainian drones in Germany, while Ukrainian UAV makers including Skyeton and Ukrspecsystems are partnering or investing in the United Kingdom to produce drones there.

“Unmanned defense systems are central to the future of defenses,” said Mikko Leino, Patria’s executive vice president for defense and weapon systems, in the statement. “The partnership with General Cherry further reinforces Patria’s expertise in unmanned defence systems and drone development.”

As part of the collaboration, Patria plans to start drone production in Finland, which would help build up Europe’s defense capabilities and support the Finnish firm’s aim to be an innovative product developer, the company said in a statement on Sunday.

“Our unique battlefield experience, combined with Patria’s technological capabilities, can help drive a fundamental transformation of the European and global security architecture,” said Stanislav Hryshyn, co-founder of General Cherry, in the statement.

Patria didn’t immediately respond to phone calls and emailed questions about the cooperation plans, including whether the Finnish company will produce existing General Cherry drone models or when Finnish production could start.

General Cherry produces a range of drones , including one-way FPV strike drones and interceptor drones, and the company says its products are in use with more than 200 military units across the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.

巴黎——芬兰国防公司 Patria 与乌克兰无人机制造商 General Cherry 合作，共同开发无人机，并在芬兰开始生产无人机。

两家公司周日签署了一份意向书，将结合 General Cherry 在小型无人机方面的专业知识和 Patria 在无人技术方面的专业知识和国防工业经验，共同为西欧国防需求开发无人驾驶车辆。他们在周日的一份声明中表示。

这项声明是欧洲国防工业与乌克兰无人机制造商开展更广泛合作的一部分。德国总理弗里德里希·默茨去年12月宣布计划在德国生产多种乌克兰无人机，而包括Skyeton和Ukrspecsystems在内的乌克兰无人机制造商正在与英国合作或投资，以在英国生产无人机。

“无人防御系统是未来防御的核心，”帕特里亚公司负责国防和武器系统的执行副总裁米科·莱诺在声明中表示。“与切里将军公司的合作进一步巩固了帕特里亚在无人防御系统和无人机开发方面的专业实力。”

作为合作的一部分，Patria计划在芬兰开始无人机生产，这将有助于增强欧洲的国防能力，并支持这家芬兰公司成为创新产品开发商的目标。该公司周日在一份声明中表示。

“我们独特的战场经验，结合 Patria 的技术能力，可以帮助推动欧洲和全球安全架构的根本性变革，” General Cherry 的联合创始人 Stanislav Hryshyn 在声明中表示。

Patria 没有立即回复有关合作计划的电话和电子邮件询问，包括这家芬兰公司是否会生产现有的 General Cherry 无人机型号，或者芬兰何时可以开始生产。

General Cherry 生产一系列无人机，包括单向 FPV 攻击无人机和拦截无人机。该公司表示，其产品已被乌克兰武装部队的 200 多个军事单位使用。

鲁迪·鲁伊滕贝格是《防务新闻》的欧洲记者。他的职业生涯始于彭博新闻社，拥有报道科技、大宗商品市场和政治方面的经验。