European coalition to rush first-person-view drones to Ukraine

LONDON — European nations are setting up a drone coalition, led by Latvia and Britain, to supply and support the production of thousands of first-person-view drones for the Ukrainian military.

Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden and Ukraine signed a letter of intent alongside Latvia to join the drone coalition Feb 14.

The number of countries swelled further on Feb. 15 when the U.K. announced it was also joining the grouping as co-leader with Latvia.

“Along with the existing countries that have already joined the drone coalition, the U.K. will make a significant contribution by supporting Ukraine both with technology and helping to develop skills,” said Latvian defense minister Andris Sprūds.

The drone coalition intends to deliver one million drones to Ukraine, said the Latvian MoD in a statement. No timeline for the drone deliveries was given by officials in Riga.

The Latvian MoD said it intends to spend at least €10 million ($11 million) this year on drones for Ukraine.

“By signing the letter of intent, countries have agreed to commit resources for manufacturing of drones and will deliver these drones and spare parts to Ukraine, where they will be tested,” said the Latvian MoD.

The British will be the lead nation for scaling up and streamlining the West’s provision of the miniature drones to Ukraine.

A spokesperson for the British MoD declined to give any details beyond saying a drone procurement process will be announced in due course.

As for Latvia’s role, the country is expected to host a drone school for Ukrainian operators and establish a test range to check the performance of drones, the British spokesperson said.

British Defence Secretary Gregg Shapps said the U.K. was already Kyiv’s largest drone supplier and had earmarked £200 million ($252 million) this year to manufacturing drones of various types destined for the battlefield.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in January that aside from small, low-cost, uncrewed air vehicles the Ministry of Defence would be buying long-range strike, sea drones and other types under the pledge.

The announcement on the drone coalition by the two defense ministers was made on the sidelines of a NATO ministerial meeting taking place in Brussels.

Small drones have proven highly effective on the battlefield since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, providing operators with situational awareness to target enemy positions, armored vehicles, and ships with explosive ordnance. First-person-view drones are typically piloted with the help of goggles, allowing operators to see a live video feed from the drone’s camera.

The British MoD said it would be running an industry competition to produce large numbers of the drones at an affordable price.

The Royal United Services Institute think tank in London estimated last year that Ukraine was losing 10,000 unmanned aerial vehicles a month.

Andrew Chuter is the United Kingdom correspondent for Defense News.

伦敦——由拉脱维亚和英国领导的欧洲各国正在组建一个无人机联盟，为乌克兰军方提供和支持生产数千架第一人称视角无人机。

2月14日，丹麦、爱沙尼亚、德国、立陶宛、荷兰、瑞典和乌克兰与拉脱维亚一起签署了一份意向书，加入无人机联盟。

2月15日，英国宣布也将与拉脱维亚共同担任该组织的共同领导人，使得该组织的成员国数量进一步增加。

拉脱维亚国防部长安德里斯·斯普鲁兹表示：“英国将与已经加入无人机联盟的现有国家一道，通过向乌克兰提供技术支持和帮助其发展技能，做出重大贡献。”

拉脱维亚国防部在一份声明中表示，无人机联盟计划向乌克兰交付一百万架无人机。里加官员没有给出无人机交付的具体时间表。

拉脱维亚国防部表示，今年计划至少花费 1000 万欧元（1100 万美元）用于向乌克兰采购无人机。

拉脱维亚国防部表示：“通过签署意向书，各国同意投入资源制造无人机，并将这些无人机和备件交付给乌克兰进行测试。”

英国将成为扩大和简化西方向乌克兰提供微型无人机的牵头国家。

英国国防部发言人拒绝透露任何细节，仅表示无人机采购流程将在适当时候公布。

英国发言人表示，至于拉脱维亚的作用，预计该国将为乌克兰操作员举办无人机学校，并建立一个测试场来检验无人机的性能。

英国国防大臣格雷格·沙普斯表示，英国已经是基辅最大的无人机供应商，并已拨出 2 亿英镑（2.52 亿美元）用于制造各种类型的战场无人机。

英国首相里希·苏纳克在1月份宣布，除了小型、低成本的无人飞行器外，国防部还将根据这项承诺购买远程打击无人机、海上无人机和其他类型的无人机。

两国国防部长在布鲁塞尔举行的北约部长级会议间隙宣布了关于无人机联盟的计划。

自俄罗斯入侵乌克兰以来，小型无人机在战场上展现出极高的效用，能够为操作人员提供态势感知能力，从而锁定敌方阵地、装甲车辆和搭载爆炸物的舰船。第一人称视角无人机通常借助护目镜进行操控，操作人员可以通过护目镜实时观看无人机摄像头拍摄的视频画面。

英国国防部表示，将开展行业竞赛，以经济实惠的价格生产大量无人机。

伦敦皇家联合军种研究所去年估计，乌克兰每月损失 1 万架无人机。

Andrew Chuter 是《防务新闻》的英国记者。