The UK and Latvia have opened the bidding for companies to supply FPV drones to Ukraine, on behalf of the Drone Capability Coalition.

The UK Ministry of Defense announced this.

The United Kingdom and Latvia have led the Drone Capability Coalition to provide Ukraine with tens of thousands of FPV drones. Thus, on June 4, the governments opened the bidding for companies to find future suppliers of attack drones.

The bidding will select manufacturers that can supply drones on a large scale and at an affordable price, using the advantages of Western industry.

This competition is open to the industry from any nation in the Ukraine Defence Contact Group. Industry can find the details of how to apply via the Defence Sourcing Portal.

Companies have until June 28, 2024, to submit their proposals, which will then be considered by the Drone Capability Coalition members and evaluated. Successful companies will receive orders to supply drones to Ukraine.

Upon receipt of positive operational feedback on the use of the provided drones, the manufacturer will receive larger orders for FPV drones in the future.

Additional FPV competitions are expected to take place through 2024, building on the lessons learned from this first competition.

“First-person view drones have proven highly effective on the battlefield since Russia’s full-scale invasion, providing Ukrainian operators with situational awareness to target enemy positions and armored vehicles,” the statement reads.

Members of the coalition include the UK, Latvia, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, and Ukraine. Further countries are considering joining the coalition.