Ukraine agrees to export drones to US for Pentagon plan, source says

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative file photo — A Ukrainian service member prepares to launch a Vampire drone under the cover of darkness, 2024. (Inna Varenytsia/REUTERS)

By Max Hunder (Reuters)

Ukraine has agreed to export drones to the United States to participate in the Pentagon's Drone Dominance programme, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

The agreement comes as Kyiv and Washington have been negotiating a wider drone deal for Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles, whose success in the war against Russia has driven high demand from other countries to learn from their experience and purchase models for testing.

Six Ukrainian companies have received permission to export about 100 drones each, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

There was no immediate official comment from Kyiv or Washington on the matter.

Ukraine has already signed drone deals with a number of European and Middle Eastern states. Kyiv has also moved to loosen wartime restrictions on its arms exports, although the government still retains a tight hold on what is sent abroad.

Drone Dominance is a billion-dollar competition run by the U.S. Department of Defense, in which small attack drones from dozens of manufacturers participate in challenges designed to simulate battlefield adversity.

The first round of that competition was won by a craft jointly produced by Ukrainian drone giant Skyfall and British company Skycutter.

(Reporting by Max Hunder, writing by Anna PruchnickaEditing by Ros Russell and Gareth Jones // REUTERS)