Ukrspecsystems, one of the bigger defence startups in Ukraine, has opened up a factory to produce drones in the UK.
Ukrspecsystems is investing £200 million to develop facilities in Suffolk, a factory in Mildenhall and testing site at Elmsett Airfield, the Ministry of Defence said. The aim will be to produce a range of Ukrspecsystems-designed systems, which include the PD-2 and SHARK-M models, surveillance drones that Ukrspecsystems claims have contributed to “almost $3 billion of damage to Putin’s war machine since the onset of the full-scale invasion.”
While a growing number of Ukrainian defence tech companies are setting up international operations, this will be the first Ukrainian defence manufacturing effort to be set up in the UK.
The deal is being framed as a win-win for both the UK and Ukraine.
Ukrainian startups are setting up a number of deals and partnerships to manufacture systems outside of Ukraine itself. This is partly to scale their businesses, but also to de-risk production in Ukraine as fighting with Russia continues to take out critical infrastructure.
“This factory represents more than industrial cooperation,” said Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK General Valerii Zaluzhnyi. “it is part of a new European security architecture built on shared responsibility and shared production. Ukraine brings battlefield experience and innovation, and together with the United Kingdom we are strengthening the capabilities needed to deter aggression.”
On the side of the international partners, meanwhile, they want to help Ukraine’s war effort, but that is not all. Building defence production on home soil also contributes to greater next-generation defence sovereignty, a big priority right now across Europe. In the UK, it will also bring jobs to Suffolk, the Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, Luke Pollard, said.
“Our resolve to support Ukraine is stronger than ever, and we are backing Ukraine’s defiant Armed Forces as they fight for peace,” he said in a statement. “Ukrspecsystems’ new factory is a vote of confidence in UK support and underlines the deepening cooperation between our nations’ defence industries. This investment will create up to 500 new jobs in the East of England, drive defence as an engine for growth, and help Ukraine defend itself against Putin’s aggression.”
May the Force1 be with you
As with other Ukraine/international partnerships — they include Quantum Systems working with Frontline; Auterion working with Airlogix; and potentially Axon working with The Fourth Law — Ukrspecsystems is also connecting with UK companies to develop and operate in the UK.
In October 2025, When the MoD and Ukrspecsystems first announced plans to manufacture drones in Suffolk, Ukrspecsystems also said that it was joining the 1Force consortium, which includes Eagle Eye Innovations and Digital Concepts Engineering.
The partnership “brings together the best of both worlds – Western engineering discipline and Eastern combat experience,” said the company. “This step strengthens the UK’s sovereign drone program while securing Ukraine’s supply chains, accelerating R&D, and ensuring NATO-standard interoperability.”
1Force plans to focus on uncrewed ground vehicles, UAVs, ISR payloads, control systems, and operator training.
Ukraine, in an effort to boost production and incoming capital for domestic suppliers, has been working on export routes for its defence companies through initiatives like Build With Ukraine and establishing more hubs around Europe outside the country. There are more coming around the corner as a result of that: just yesterday four more companies announced partnerships across Denmark, Finland and Latvia.
Ukrspecsystems — which was founded in 2014 and has never disclosed funding — is not a surprising first partner for the UK’s MoD since they already had a track record together.
The MoD had previously ordered around 80 of its SHARK and Mini-SHARK drones (which, as you can see from the image here, are actually very shark-like) from Ukrspecsystems’ Ukraine factories. It’s unclear of those were used directly in aid of Ukraine’s war effort or delivered back to the UK.
Ukrspecsystems is also a key player in the research and development of the low-cost Octopus interceptor drone, which is designed to counter Shaheed loitering munitions along with other drones and weapons that Russia is using in Ukraine.
The UK is producing the Octopus drones separately, it said today, and while it did not share numbers of how many, the plan is to have thousands of these systems rolling out monthly under the £4.5 billion military support package announced in January 2025. Other Ukrainian companies involved in the Octopus project include Skyriper and TAF Industries, according to reports.
