Britain will supply 'kamikaze' attack drones to Ukraine

Britain will supply ‘kamikaze’ attack drones to Ukraine to fight off Russia as West plans to increase support for country’s ‘long-term’ security including armoured vehicles and heavy artillery

  • UK planning to send single-use ‘loiter’ weapons similar to US Switchblade drone
  • Essentially a flying bomb which is remotely deliberately crashed into targets
  • West agrees to up military support with armoured vehicles and heavy artillery

Britain is planning to supply Ukraine with ‘kamikaze’ drones as the West steps up military support for the country to combat the Russian invasion. 

The UK is planning to send single-use ‘loiter’ weapons similar to the US Switchblade UAV, essentially a flying bomb which is remotely deliberately crashed into targets.

Anti-aircraft and anti-ship systems that would be able to target ships in the Black Sea could also be sent. 

The move comes as Western leaders agreed to up their military support for Kyiv to include armoured vehicles and heavy artillery. 

The Ministry of Defence said that a conference of 35 nations arranged by the UK had ‘committed to widening its package of military support for Ukraine and explored new ways of sustaining the Armed Forces of Ukraine over the longer term’.

Britain has already sent thousands of anti-tank weapons to Ukraine. But Nato nations continue to rebuff pleas from Ukrainian president Volodomir Zelensky for tanks and fighter aircraft.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace last night told Sky News: ‘There will be more lethal aid going into Ukraine as a result of today. Ukraine needs longer-range artillery and that’s because of what the Russian army has been doing, which is now digging in and starting to pound these cities with artillery.

The UK is planning to send single-use ‘loiter’ weapons similar to the US Switchblade UAV (pictured), essentially a flying bomb which is is remotely crashed into targets.

‘The best counter to that is other long-range artillery, so [Ukraine will] be looking for and getting more long-range artillery, ammunition predominantly. 

‘They are also looking for armoured vehicles of some types — not tanks necessarily, but certainly protective vehicles, and more anti-air [weapons]. All of this will be forthcoming as a result of this conference.’

It came amid further suggests that the February invasion is faltering. Mr Wallace  claimed Vladimir Putin ‘is now a man in a cage he built himself’.

As the Russian war against Ukraine entered day 37, the Defence Secretary said Russia’s president no longer bore the ‘force’ he used to.

In an interview with Sky News, he said: ‘President Putin is not the force he used to be. He is now a man in a cage he built himself.

‘His army is exhausted, he has suffered significant losses. The reputation of this great army of Russia has been trashed.

‘He has not only got to live with the consequences of what he is doing to Ukraine, but he has also got to live with the consequences of what he has done to his own army.

‘We have seen it before. It always gets worse. It goes for more civilian attacks, more civilian areas.’

Britain has warned president Zelensky to remain strong in the face of Russian aggression amid fears other allied leaders could push him to agree a rushed peace deal advantageous to Putin.

Progress towards a ceasefire seemingly got started earlier this week when the Kremlin announced it would pull back some of its troops from Kyiv and Chernihiv as negotiations progressed in Turkey.

But government officials are now concerned that US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz may encourage Zelensky to give up significant concessions to reach a peace deal as soon as possible.

A senior government source told The Times yesterday that the aforementioned allied leaders appeared ‘over-eager’ to secure a peace deal, which could see Putin enjoy weaker sanctions and avoid persecution as a war criminal among other concessions, in return for an end to hostilities in Ukraine.

‘Some of our allies may be too eager for [Zelensky] to settle,’ the source said, before adding: ‘Ukraine needs to be in the strongest possible position militarily before those talks can take place.’

Zelensky meanwhile is said to have expressed worry to Boris Johnson over Russia’s apparent scale-back of military activity in key regions and posited that Russia’s negotiators may be feigning progress in peace talks to buy time for fighting forces to regroup and reposition.

It comes after Russian forces withdrew from a series of positions around the Ukrainian capital, including Hostomel airbase which is thought to be a key strategic position, and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant which they had held since day one of the invasion.

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