Ukraine and Netherlands sign deal to co-produce UAS

A Ukrainian unmanned aircraft system factory, posted by Netherlandsʼ defence minister during a visit on 6 October 2024. (Netherlands Ministry of Defence)

Ukraine's Minister of Defence Denys Shmyhal has signed an agreement with Netherlands Minister of Defence Ruben Brekelmans for the joint production of Ukrainian unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), Shmyhal announced in a 1 December social media post.

The agreement builds on existing deals signed between the two countries in October, according to a 1 December Dutch Ministry of Defence (MoD) press release.

The production of the Ukrainian UAS systems will be distributed between Ukraine and the Netherlands, according to Shmyhal's 1 December post. “The drones [UAS] will be procured by the Dutch side and sent to Ukraine's defence forces.” He did not include information on the types of UASs or their manufacturers. “We are continuing to scale the production of the best Ukrainian weapons in co-operation with our partners,” the post said.

Ukraine and the Netherlands signed an agreement in October to launch the co-production of “deep-strike unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)” in the Netherlands as part of a EUR110 million (USD127.8 million) investment under the Build with Ukraine initiative, according to a 10 October press release from Ukraine's MoD. The initiative seeks to expand Ukraine's production capacity.

The Netherlands has also signed contracts with Ukrainian companies to produce 600,000 UASs, worth around EUR500 million (USD583.4 million), Netherlands Minister of Defence Ruben Brekelmans said in a social media post on 24 June 2025. This was announced in addition to a EUR175 million (USD203.1 million) support package, which includes 100 UAS detection radars, vehicles for transporting wounded military personnel, and an EUR80 million (USD92.86 million) investment in UASs for Ukraine.