Ukraine’s drone coalition expands with 2 new countries on board
Ukrainian Armed Forces drone Vampire (Photo: Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
The ranks of the Drone Coalition, which provides military assistance to Ukraine in the field of unmanned technologies and systems, have expanded. On July 3, Belgium and Türkiye officially joined the coalition, according to the Latvian Ministry of Defense.
“At the meeting of the Steering Committee of the International Drone Coalition in Riga, the desire of Belgium and Türkiye to join the international drone coalition, led by Latvia and the UL, was supported,” the statement said.
The ministry added that the coalition now includes 20 countries providing military assistance to Ukraine in this area. In 2025, coalition members have pledged to allocate €2.75 billion in support of Ukraine and have already contributed €180 million to the joint procurement fund, led by the UK.
“These funds are intended for the centralized procurement of drone technologies by the Drone Coalition, as well as for national-level support by each coalition member country,” the ministry added.
Drone coalition: What it is
The Drone Coalition was established in February 2024 as part of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (Ramstein format) and the NATO–Ukraine Council. The coalition’s mission is to provide Ukraine with electronic warfare and intelligence systems, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
As of July 2025, the coalition includes the following 20 countries:
- Latvia
- UK
- Ukraine
- Australia
- Belgium
- Czechia
- Denmark
- France
- Estonia
- Italy
- New Zealand
- Canada
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Türkiye
- Germany
- Sweden
Interceptor drones: A new direction
Meanwhile, Ukraine is developing not only traditional drones but also interceptors. On July 3, American company Swift Beat signed a memorandum with Kyiv to expand drone production. Under this agreement, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will receive drones specifically designed to destroy missiles. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also announced plans to produce hundreds of thousands of interceptor drones.
As of early July, Ukrainian forces have actively used interceptor drones to destroy Russian Shahed drones. Using this method, over a hundred enemy kamikaze UAVs have already been shot down.
