Netherlands Allocates €310 Million for Anti-Drone Systems for Ukraine and Joint Production of Drones

The Netherlands has allocated a €200 million aid package for the purchase of anti-drone systems for Ukraine. In addition, €110 million will be invested in the joint production of long-range attack drones.

This was reported by the Suspilne media outlet and the Minister of Defence of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal.

According to the Minister of Defence, the production of drones will be launched in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Ministers of Defence of Ukraine and the Netherlands on Friday, October 10th, in the presence of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.

“The agreement provides for the launch of joint production of ‘deep-strike’ UAVs in the Netherlands with the attraction of €110 million of investment under the Build with Ukraine initiative,” the minister said.

In addition, Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans told Suspilne about the allocation of a €200 million aid package to Ukraine. These funds will be spent on anti-drone systems.

“We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Minister of Defence on industrial cooperation. This is part of the Build with Ukraine initiative, which aims to ensure that both Dutch companies can invest in Ukraine and vice versa, and that Ukrainian companies can come to the Netherlands, set up joint ventures and increase joint production,” said Ruben Brekelmans.

He also added that the Netherlands was opening a coordination cluster in Kyiv for its technology companies wishing to enter the Ukrainian market.

According to him, Ukraine and the Netherlands are also setting up joint ventures to produce weapons, but it is too early to talk about the details.

“We are setting up joint ventures, one of them will probably be announced soon… We have learned from Ukraine how to combine innovation and industrialization, and we can help both the Ukrainian military and the Dutch army in this,” the minister explained.

In early October, the Netherlands launched large-scale production of ground and aerial drones and batteries for its own army and Ukraine.

Production was launched at the VDL site in Born. The initiative is being implemented in close cooperation with three leading companies: Milrem Robotics, Tulip Tech and DeltaQuad.

For this purpose, the Ministry of Defense has leased 120 thousand square meters of production space, where the existing infrastructure allowed it to start work immediately. Former VDL employees were also hired to support the production.