Great Britain is preparing to sign an agreement with Ukraine on the joint development and production of modern military equipment. The document envisages the exchange of technologies, which will create new jobs in Great Britain and strengthen the national security of both countries. This is stated in a statement by the British government.
The first joint project will be a new interceptor drone for air defense systems called Project OCTOPUS. Its serial production will begin in Great Britain, where it is planned to produce thousands of such devices every month for further transfer to Ukraine. These interceptor drones are much cheaper than conventional air defense missiles and have already proven their effectiveness against Iranian kamikaze drones. They are able to quickly destroy enemy drones and missiles even before they reach the target.
As noted in a government statement, the new systems will give Ukraine the ability to more effectively repel attacks similar to Russia’s latest nighttime attack on the western regions. Then part of the drones crossed the airspace of Poland, forcing NATO to use air defense means.
The agreement was the result of the expansion of the industrial partnership, which the Prime Minister of Great Britain announced after a summer meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky. Last week, Defense Minister John Geely visited Kyiv and signed agreements on deepening cooperation, which include joint developments and the exchange of intellectual property.
This is one of the first agreements of this level between Ukraine and a Western country. It opens up new prospects for increasing defense production and can make the military industry an important factor in economic growth.
