By Cassell Bryan-Low
LONDON, July 12 (Reuters) - Germany is funding 50,000 attack drones for Ukraine, a source familiar with the matter said, in an order that marks one of the biggest known purchases of drones for Kyiv by a Western government.
Ukraine has relied heavily on a range of unmanned vehicles during the more than four-year-old war against Russia, and it is producing millions of drones annually as Ukrainian forces conduct thousands of drone strikes each day.
The attack drone order involves Shrike first-person-view (FPV) drones made by major Ukrainian manufacturer SkyFall and equipped with software from U.S. defence technology firm Auterion designed to autonomously track and hit moving targets in the final phase of the flight.
Auterion CEO Lorenz Meier confirmed the size of the contract, adding that it was worth about €90 million ($103 million) and was funded by a European country. Meier told Reuters some of the drones had already been delivered to Ukraine's government with the rest due for dispatch this year.
SkyFall confirmed Germany's involvement, but said the company could not comment on the details of the purchase.
Germany's Defence Ministry declined to comment, citing operational security.
Ukraine's Defence Ministry also declined to comment.
SHRIKE CATCHES PENTAGON'S EYE
The Shrike, a low-cost drone that has been deployed in Ukraine since 2023, recently gained prominence overseas.
A version called Shrike 10-F produced by SkyFall with UK company Skycutter recently topped the leaderboard in the first round of a Pentagon-run competition as 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 was helping to supply a total of 100,000 drones for Ukraine this year in partnership with different hardware makers, funded by several Western governments.
That also includes a $50 million Pentagon contract to provide 33,000 drones, which he said have 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 ($1.01 billion) funding package.
($1 = 0.8762 euros)
($1 = 0.7460 pounds)
(Reporting by Cassell Bryan-Low; Additional reporting by Sabine Siebold in Berlin and Daniel Flynn in Kyiv;Editing by Helen Popper)
