DSEI 2025: UK launches Project Octopus to deliver thousands of interceptor drones to Ukraine
A Shahed-136 drone. (Photo: Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0)
The programme will work to build and deploy the drones to Ukraine to support its fight against Russia, coming a day after Poland shot down 19 Russian drones in its airspace.
UK defence secretary John Healey has outlined new plans to send thousands of interceptor missiles to Ukraine every month, with the Ukrainian-developed UAV to be shared with the UK to help in the fight against Russia.
Speaking at DSEI, Healey outlined ‘Project Octopus’, a new partnership between the UK and Ukraine. Under the project, Ukraine would share technology developed for a new interceptor drone that had proved highly effective against Iranian-made, Russian-deployed Shahed one-way attack drones and cost less than 10% of the Russian systems destroyed.
According to Healey, the UK would in turn “rapidly develop” this Ukrainian interceptor drone – with the IP and technology shared with the UK – to mass produce it. Thousands of small interceptor drones are planned to be sent to Ukraine every month.
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“It demonstrates that wartime necessity really is the mother of constant invention,” he said. “It [Project Octopus] means we have access to the best and developing battlefield technology for our own forces”.
The agreement followed investment from Ukraine’s largest drone manufacturer, UKRSPECSYSTEMS, which announced that it would invest £200 million (US$271.2 million) into two new UK facilities – the first major investment by a Ukrainian defence company in the UK, according to Healy.
At DSEI, other UK-Ukraine drone partnerships reared their heads, as the UK sought to boost drone output for its armed forces. This includes a joint venture between the UK firm Prevail Partners and Ukrainian manufacturer Skyeton for its Raybird UAV. The drone is, as Shephard reported, to be submitted for Project Corvus as a potential bid to replace the Watchkeeper drone.
“We know that whenever equipment is in the hands of the war fighter, whoever can get that new technology into their hands fastest has the edge. We’ve proved we can do it with Ukraine through the excellent work of Task Forces Kindred. We now must do it for ourselves in Britain,” he emphasised.
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