Netherlands to supply Ukraine with drones worth €42.6 million

19 October, 2024 DeltaQuad VTOL reconnaissance drone. Photo: Sander Smeets The Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands, together with DeltaQuad, will supply Ukraine with reconnaissance drones worth EUR 42.6 million.

This was reported on the official website of the Dutch Ministry of Defense. This purchase was the first step in the implementation of the plan of action for the supply of drones after the visit of the Dutch Minister of Defense to Kyiv. The Ministry of Defense notes that the DeltaQuad drones are cutting edge reconnaissance drones with a robust system for countering enemy electronic warfare systems, as well as being capable of conducting long-range reconnaissance activities in the air.

The purchase of these drones is part of a EUR400 million program, of which EUR200 million will be used to purchase drones from the Dutch industry. In addition, the Dutch Ministry of Defense has developed a plan of action for the production and procurement of drones.

The plan consists of three points and provides for the support and development of drone production and development capabilities in the Netherlands to maintain competencies. The second point is the urgent acquisition of drones for Ukraine, in cooperation with Ukraine, and for its own production.

A DeltaQuad Pro drone. Photo: MICHAEL JOYCE

And the third point is to establish processes for financing the purchase of reconnaissance drones.

It should be noted that the type of drones and their number are not officially announced as part of ensuring secrecy. Despite this, there is a high probability that DeltaQuad will supply Ukraine with DeltaQuad Pro VTOL drones, which have been used by the Defense Forces since 2022. Earlier, Militarnyi reported that the first tests of a domestic kamikaze drone had taken place in France, which would soon be transferred to Ukraine.

The tested drone was developed by NEXTER as part of the Colibri program, launched in May 2022, which aimed to quickly develop French low-cost remote-controlled kamikaze drones that would be easy to use and capable of hitting light targets at a distance of up to 5 kilometers.

The prototype was developed on the basis of the civilian Delair Tech UX11 with a wingspan of 1.1 m and a weight of up to 1.5 kg.