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Germany is funding 50,000 attack drones for Ukraine in one of the largest known drone purchases for Kyiv by a Western government, a source familiar with the matter said, Reuters reported.
The order comes as Ukraine continues to rely heavily on unmanned vehicles in its more than four-year war against Russia.
Ukraine produces millions of drones annually, while Ukrainian forces conduct thousands of drone strikes each day.
The attack drone order involves Shrike first-person-view drones made by major Ukrainian manufacturer SkyFall.
The drones are equipped with software from U.S. defense technology firm Auterion, which is designed to autonomously track and hit moving targets in the final phase of flight.
Auterion CEO Lorenz Meier confirmed the size of the contract.
He said the deal was worth about €90 million, or $103 million, and was funded by a European country.
Meier told Reuters that some of the drones had already been delivered to Ukraine’s government, with the rest due to be dispatched this year.
SkyFall confirmed Germany’s involvement but said the company could not comment on the details of the purchase.
The Shrike is a low-cost drone that has been deployed in Ukraine since 2023.
It recently gained prominence overseas after a version called the Shrike 10-F, produced by SkyFall with U.K. company Skycutter, topped the leaderboard in the first round of a Pentagon-run competition.
The competition is part of a $1.1 billion initiative to buy hundreds of thousands of one-way attack drones.
Auterion said its software was being used in several entries in the competition.
Meier said Auterion is helping supply a total of 100,000 drones for Ukraine this year in partnership with different hardware makers.
He said the drones are being funded by several Western governments.
That figure also includes a $50 million Pentagon contract to provide 33,000 drones, which Meier said had been delivered to Ukraine.
Last month, Britain said it would provide 150,000 drones to Ukraine this year as part of a broader £752 million, or $1.01 billion, funding package.
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