Defence Secretary Wes Streeting and Chancellor John Healey have backed a major expansion in Britain by UFORCE, the Ukrainian-founded maker of combat-proven drones, with the National Wealth Fund investing £113 million in the company and hundreds of high-skilled jobs set to follow.
The investment is part of UFORCE's $700 million (more than £525 million) funding round. The company, now headquartered in the UK, will expand its British engineering, training and production teams and build a domestic supply chain, with hulls, engines, electronics and fit-out sourced here and more than 70% of the content of each UK-built boat coming from British suppliers.
Wes Streeting: 'Ukraine is rewriting the rules of warfare'
Aboard HMS Prince of Wales in Norway, the Defence Secretary remotely piloted a UFORCE MV7 uncrewed vessel that was more than 1,500 miles away in the Atlantic near Portugal. "Ukraine is rewriting the rules of warfare," he said. "In just a few years the UK has gone from training Ukraine to being trained by Ukraine, as they prove that who can innovate fastest is a key measure of modern military power."
"Bringing battle-tested expertise to the UK will create high-skilled jobs, spur innovation and strengthen our warfighting readiness, enhancing our ability to deter our adversaries," he added.
John Healey: 'Economic and national security'
The Chancellor said the deal was exactly what the National Wealth Fund was created for. "Bringing battle-tested Ukrainian technology to Britain will mean more high-skilled jobs, new investment and a stronger British Armed Forces," he said. "This is an investment that will strengthen both our economic and national security, while putting the UK at the forefront of the next generation of defence technology."
The jobs will span engineering, software, artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing, and UFORCE will sponsor apprenticeships with universities and colleges across the UK. Britain will also serve as a base to support allies in the Joint Expeditionary Force, with a focus on operating in northern seas, as part of the UK-Ukraine 100 Year Partnership.
UFORCE chief executive Oleg Rogynskyy said the UK had been an early supporter of Ukraine's defence technology sector, adding: "Together, the UK and Ukraine have the opportunity to lead the world in this next generation of defence technology, and we're proud to be building that future here in Britain."
