New Ukraine Agreement Links Battlefield Data to UK Defense Production Lines

June 26, 2025

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer (left) and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (right) signed an agreement for battlefield data and drone production in London this week. (Image: Ukraine Ministry of Defense on X)

The U.K. and Ukraine have signed a new agreement that will increase Ukraine's drone production, while bringing battlefield data and design expertise from the ongoing conflict with Russia directly to U.K. defense production facilities.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Zelenskyy reached the agreement during the Ukrainian leader’s June 23rd visit to London. Under the agreement, technology data sets from Ukraine’s front lines are set to be plugged into U.K. production lines, allowing British defense firms to rapidly design and build, at scale, cutting edge military equipment available nowhere else in the world.

Ukraine has significantly increased its domestic drone design and production capacity over the last year. Drone technology is reportedly evolving in Ukraine "every six weeks."

The agreement will allow battlefield data to be shared with U.K. firms to quickly build and produce large numbers of drones for Ukraine’s front lines. It will also ensure a defense dividend continues to be delivered across the country — boosting Ukraine’s defense with deliveries of new equipment, while also supporting British jobs.

Initial agreements between defense firms in both countries are expected to be rolled out in the coming weeks, with the aim of delivering Ukraine large numbers of battle-proven drones to continue to stave off Russia’s barbaric invasion over the coming months and years. The three year battlefield data partnership comes following the 100-year partnership signed between the two nations in January.

The U.K. will also allocate up to £280 million of bilateral assistance to Ukraine for financial year 2025-2026.

The funding will support humanitarian, energy, stabilization, reform, recovery and reconstruction programmes. Today’s extra funding takes the U.K.’s non-military support to Ukraine since the start of the invasion to over £5 billion. This includes £4.1 billion in fiscal support, and over £1.2 billion in bilateral assistance.

The industrial pilots and subsequent orders will be funded through the U.K.’s £4.5 billion of military support this year. It also delivers on the Strategic Defence Review’s recommendations for the U.K. Armed Forces to move towards a greater use of autonomy.

Initially, the industrial partnership is expected to increase information and expertise sharing between the U.K. and Ukraine on drone-based air defence, but the agreement also paves the way for both countries to work on capabilities for the future, long after the war finishes.

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