In the final keynote of DSEI 2025, the UK Secretary of State for Defence John Healey formally announced a joint endeavour in which British industry will produce thousands of interceptor drones each month for Ukraine.
Under Project Octopus, the industrial agreement – supposedly the first of its kind – will see Ukraine invest £200m ($271.2m) in the UK while one Ukrainian uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) builder, UKRSPECSYSTEMS, shares its proven design for a new small, uncrewed interceptor which has been launched against Russian-deployed, Iranian-made Shahed one-way attack drones.
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The interceptor will cost less than 10% of the Russian system its destroys, Healey emphasised.
In the backdrop of this bilateral deal, only a few days ago, Russia tested Nato’s resolve by launching drones into Polish airspace; reports suggest nineteen were detected and up to four were intercepted. Meanwhile, Ukraine is regularly bombarded by hundreds of drones and missiles – between 500 and 700 in some cases.
“For Ukraine, this means that they can better protect their people, their homeland,” Healey stated. “For Britain, it means we have access to the best and developing field technology for our own forces.”
Defence Industrial Strategy
“In short,” Healey maintained in his speech, the industrial cooperation “grows our economy, and that win-win is the principle that’s underpinning our Defence Industrial Strategy [DIS] published on Monday [8 September].”
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By GlobalDataUkraine is mentioned 34 times in the UK government’s DIS. The war in Ukraine serves as a reminder of the need for sufficient inventories of munitions and spares, replenishment and resupply by industry, and a rapid, continual cycle of innovation between industry and the front line.
To this end, the DIS will also introduce a new consultation policy: “This means whenever we invest in overseas suppliers, we will ensure that the British economy is strengthened in return through new jobs and novel technologies.”
