Australia joins the Drone Coalition

21 March, 2024 Illustrative photo of the Delair DT46 drone. February 2024. Photo credits: Sebastien Lecornu

Australia will join the Drone Coalition, led by Latvia and the United Kingdom, which aims to supply Ukraine's Defense Forces with drones. The Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles made this announcement at a joint press conference with UK Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps. "Today, we also announce that Australia will participate in the drone coalition, which is being led by both the United Kingdom and Latvia.

This is a really important opportunity for us to continue making our contribution to the effort to have Ukraine stay the course and be able to resolve this conflict on its terms," Marles said. Previously, Australia had already provided drones for the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

PPDS UAV of the Australian company SYPAQ. Photo credits: SYPAQ

In particular, Australia supplied ultra-cheap Corvo Precision Payload Delivery System single-use cargo drones by the Australian company SYPAQ to perform logistics tasks in hard-to-reach places and serve as a decoy.

Drone Coalition

Militarnyi previously reported that the Netherlands has joined the Drone Coalition.

On January 18, Militarnyi reported on the creation of the Drone Coalition.

Illustrative photo of WARMATE 3.0 loitering munition. Photo credits: WB Electronics

Latvia initiated the establishment of the Drone Coalition. The initiative was announced during a meeting between its Defense Minister Andris Spruds and Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umierov in December 2023.

According to the Latvian Minister, this initiative will assist the Ukrainian military in a war where the use of drones has become an important element of combat operations. Kateryna Chernohorenko, Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformations, and Digitalization, presented Ukraine's need for unmanned systems, electronic warfare, and technologies to protect critical infrastructure to representatives of 13 participating countries. "Technology, not people, should be fighting.

The drone coalition will be another step towards implementing this idea. It will save many lives. Strengthening and developing the production of unmanned systems will make it possible to transform the military and make the latest technologies a reality today.

I would like to invite nations to develop software solutions that will create the future of this sector," the Deputy Defense Minister said.

The PD-2 reconnaissance system was handed over to the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, December 21, 2023.

Photo credits: Defence Intelligence of Ukraine

In addition to the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom have already joined the Drone Coalition.