The Dutch government has announced a 110-million-euro ($127-million) investment to jointly produce deep-strike drones with Ukraine.
The investment is part of the Build with Ukraine initiative, under which Ukrainian defense firms establish production facilities in NATO countries to safeguard operations from Russian attacks and improve integration with Western defense industries.
“We separately focused on our key priorities: increasing the production of drones for the front and urban defense, strengthening the long-range capabilities of the Defense Forces and strengthening sanctions pressure on the aggressor,” Minister of Defence of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said.
Amsterdam has provided an estimated $9 billion in assistance to Kyiv since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, including military equipment and drones.
However, this marks the first time the Netherlands is directly investing in Ukraine’s defense industry to help strengthen the country’s own defense capabilities.
Additional Aid Package
In addition to the investment, Dutch Minister of Defense Ruben Brekelmans announced a 200-million-euro ($232-million) aid package for Ukraine to supply counter-drone systems, Ukrainian national broadcaster Suspilne reported.
He also unveiled a coordination cluster in Kyiv to support Dutch defense technology companies seeking to invest in Ukraine.
Brekelmans said that Dutch and Ukrainian companies are planning to launch joint ventures for weapons production, though it is too early to provide details.
“We are creating joint ventures, one of which will probably be announced soon,” Brekelmans was quoted as saying.
“The goal is to create win-win situations, because Ukraine has a lot of knowledge and experience, as companies are very innovative, work closely with the military, and fight intensively every day.
But we in the Netherlands also have some technological experience that can be used to increase the value of these products, and we also have industrial capacity to scale up production.”
