The Ukrainian defence company F-Drones has officially joined the ranks of 18 companies — nine Ukrainian and nine European —selected by the European Commission as founding members of the newly established EU–Ukraine Drone Alliance, the company announced.
The European Commission unveiled the Alliance in early May as part of the new EU–Ukraine Drone Deal initiative.
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In a speech delivered in Kyiv, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasised that Europe must learn from Ukraine, which, over the course of the full-scale war, has become a global leader in the development and combat use of unmanned technologies. At the same time, the European Union is prepared to provide industrial capacity, production scale and financial instruments to support the joint development of a new generation of defence technologies.
The Alliance’s first group of founding members includes:
- European companies: ORQA d.o.o., Indra Group, Fincantieri, WB Group, Destinus, Delair, RSI Europe, TERMA A/S and Quantum Systems.
- Ukrainian companies: Skyfall Industries, Greentech Harvest, Tencore, Deviro, Vyriy Industry, Scientific Production Company “ATHLON AVIA”, TEHAVTOFART PIVDEN (TAF Industries), UFORCE and F-Drones.
These companies will form the Alliance’s first Council, which is expected to hold its inaugural meeting in Brussels as early as September. The founding members will define strategic priorities, areas of technological cooperation and future joint projects between Ukraine and European Union member states.
“It is a great honour for F-Drones to be among the companies that have been given the opportunity to lay the foundations for a new European ecosystem of unmanned technologies. Ukraine is today the undisputed global leader in the combat use of drones and the pace of defence innovation. By combining this unique experience with the industrial capabilities of the European Union, we will be able to significantly accelerate the development of new technologies and strengthen security across Europe,” F-Drones stated.
The EU–Ukraine Drone Alliance is being established as a long-term platform to support joint research, scale up production, integrate Ukrainian and European manufacturers into a single defence-industrial space, and accelerate the deployment of innovations in the field of unmanned and counter-drone systems.