Germany funds 50,000 strike drones for Ukraine, source says

Germany is funding 50,000 attack drones for Ukraine, according to a source familiar with the matter, marking one of the largest known purchases of unmanned aerial vehicles for Kyiv by a Western government. Ukraine has relied heavily on unmanned systems during the ongoing four-year conflict, currently manufacturing millions of units domestically as Ukrainian forces execute thousands of targeted drone strikes each day.

The major procurement order consists of Shrike first-person-view (FPV) drones manufactured by prominent Ukrainian defence firm SkyFall. The hardware is paired with specialised software developed by US defence technology company Auterion, which is designed to autonomously track and strike moving targets during the final phase of flight. Auterion CEO Lorenz Meier confirmed the massive scale of the contract, stating it is worth approximately €90 million ($103 million) and is financed by a European state, with deliveries already underway and the remainder due by the end of the year.

SkyFall formally confirmed Germany’s direct financial involvement in the deal but noted that the firm could not comment further on specific operational details. Both the German and Ukrainian ministries of defence declined to comment publicly, citing strict operational security protocols. The Shrike system itself is a low-cost, combat-tested platform deployed in Ukraine since 2023 that has recently attracted considerable international attention.

A specialised variant known as the Shrike 10-F, co-produced by SkyFall alongside British company Skycutter, recently topped the leaderboard in the initial round of a high-profile Pentagon competition. That initiative forms part of a larger $1.1 billion US programme to purchase hundreds of thousands of one-way attack drones. Auterion noted that its tracking software is actively utilised across multiple competition entries, with the firm assisting in supplying 100,000 total drones to Ukraine this year via various Western government contracts, alongside Britain’s recent commitment to deliver 150,000 drones.