Ukraine will get new weapons from UK, Czech Republic and Turkey. Military expert Serhiy Zgurets

This week saw many interesting initiatives related to new projects for the Ukrainian Armed Forces by the UK, Czech Republic, and Turkey. 

Long-range weapons from the UK

This week, the British Ministry of Defense, as part of an international support fund, has announced a new initiative to purchase a number of weapons for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and there is a mention of long-range systems. Oleh Katkov, editor-in-chief of Defence Express, believes that this is the same process as when the US sells weapons to Ukraine under a program of ordering them directly from the manufacturer, rather than transferring them from warehouses. Countries are limited in transferring their weapons because they have to fulfill their own defense tasks. That is why ordering from a manufacturer is quite logical. And there is a fairly wide range of choices - we are not talking about just one or two samples, but different ones that are transferred to Ukraine after ordering and evaluation. Now we are talking about long-range weapons and not just missiles. The ranges are from 100 km to 300 km, and the warhead can weigh from 10 kg to half a ton. Speaking of such a powerful combat system, we are obviously talking about the Storm Shadow cruise missile. In the lower category, there may be “kamikaze” drones. Those companies that have already developed their own drones can join this competition. 

We are basically talking about the fact that the British Ministry of Defense is now accepting applications from developers, and, relatively speaking, if the list includes Storm Shadow, it is already a production model and can be supplied to Ukraine if the Ministry of Defense agrees to it. As for the new models, this means that their production time can take a long time. According to Katkov, Ukraine can get an export version of the Storm Shadow with the specified range. Everything depends on its cost and limited quantity. In London's opinion, it makes sense to order production from scratch. This will take some time. We are not talking about 10 to 20 missiles, Ukraine's needs are measured in hundreds of units.

New projects with the Czech Republic

This week, Czech President Petr Pavel visited Kyiv. The countries are implementing six new projects in the military-technical field. The possibility of jointly manufacturing a training aircraft was even mentioned. Oleh Katkov said that the Albatross training jet was in question. The Czech Republic has modernized it in an interesting way, creating a prototype of a light fighter jet. It will not cover Ukraine's need for F-16s, but we are talking about the need to patrol the skies and intercept targets like Shahed drones. In addition to aircraft, there is also talk of modernizing Ukrainian tanks. The Czech defense industry performs a huge amount of work for Ukraine, including the supply of self-propelled artillery systems and the modernization of T-72s in the amount of 130 units, which is being carried out at the expense of the Netherlands and the United States. 

Contracts with Baykar

The third focus of this week's news is the statement by the Ukrainian Minister of Technical Industry that Ukraine and Turkey have signed three new contracts concerning cooperation with Baykar Makina, which manufactures Bayraktar TB2 and other unmanned systems. This concerns both arms exports and the strengthening of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said Katkov. The export of Ukrainian products to Baykar concerns engines used in Turkish drones. These are quite powerful AKINCI and Kızılelma attack UAVs.