Dutch defence minister pledges 400 million for Ukraine drone plan

Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans said on a surprise visit to Kyiv on Sunday that his country will invest 400 million euros ($440 million) in advanced drone development with Ukraine and deliver more F-16s in the coming months.

More than 2-1/2 years since the start of the Russian full-scale invasion, Ukraine is fighting to thwart Russia's troops as they inch forward in the east and attack critical infrastructure ahead of the winter months.

"The war, of course, is intensifying every day, and Ukraine is setting up more brigades who all need support, who all need military equipment. We need to have this continuous flow of support," Brekelmans told Reuters in Kyiv.

The drone action plan will combine Ukraine's innovation and Dutch knowledge to improve technology used on the battlefield, he said.

"We will focus on different types of drones, so both surveillance drones, more defensive drones, but also the attack drones, because we see that Ukraine needs those more offensive drones also to target military facilities," Brekelmans said.

Around half of the investment will be spent in the Netherlands, while the rest will be split between Ukraine and other countries, he added.

If the developed drones are successful, more funding will be available to scale up production, according to the defence minister.

The Netherlands has pledged 10 billion euros in military support for Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion and spent around 4 billion euros so far.

AIR DEFENCE

After visiting the city of Kharkiv, pummelled by Russian glide bombs, on Saturday, Brekelmans said attacking military targets in Russia was the only way to defend the city.

Ukraine has asked its partners to give it permission to use their weapons to strike targets deep in Russia and provide it with more air defences.

The Netherlands has contributed to its air defence support by driving international partners to supply Ukraine with F-16 jets and pledging 24 of them.

The first batch of planes from the Netherlands is already operating in Ukrainian airspace, according to the minister, while the others will be delivered "in the upcoming months and maybe beginning of next year."

The country is also delivering reserve parts, ammunition and fuel for jets as it seeks to expand pilot training opportunities through meeting with partner countries and private sector players like Lockheed Martin to keep jets operational, he said.

The Netherlands has also announced a plan to assemble a Patriot air-defence system for Ukraine relying on parts from different countries but Brekelmans said it had struggled to source some parts.

He said Ukraine was already using one Dutch-supplied Patriot radar and "three launchers are going to be delivered very soon."