European countries are increasingly striking joint production deals with Ukraine, particularly in the drone sector, as Kyiv’s ability to rapidly produce affordable battlefield hardware improves.
The latest such announcement was made this week when Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Kyiv will help Warsaw build the country’s new drone fleet, although he did not outline the size of the future fleet.
These joint production deals allow European companies to access Ukrainian technology, which has been tested in active combat. Ukrainian manufacturers offer battlefield data, providing “feedback from an actual user on the frontlines,” Linus Terhorst, research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said.
This expertise is especially relevant in what Terhorst described as the “mass segment” — the rapid deployment of low-cost systems at scale. Ukrainian companies can provide key know-how in the software component of the production chain, particularly in integrating low-cost effectors and sensors. In this area, European primes have “probably overthought things in the past,” he added.
Since 2022, Ukrainian defence companies have signed numerous partnerships with European counterparts, with Gulf countries now also looking to tap into that expertise, reflecting sustained demand and closer industrial ties.
One of the most recent examples is Quantum Systems, one of Germany’s leading drone manufacturers, which established two new joint ventures with Ukrainian companies WIY Drones and Tencore earlier in April as part of a broader defence partnership between the two countries. This followed a first deal with Frontline Robotics in December 2025.
European countries are also looking to Ukraine to support the mass production of drones and fuel, to meet steady demand on the front line.
This cooperation is increasingly extending into production facilities across Europe. Ukrainian company Ukrspecsystems opened a drone factory in the UK last February, creating around 500 jobs, according to the Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, Luke Pollard.
Similarly, Fire Point, the Ukrainian manufacturer of the Flamingo missile, signed an agreement last September to become the first company to benefit from a Danish scheme supporting Ukrainian firms in setting up production in Denmark. The company is expected to manufacture rocket fuel there, with construction of the facility having started last December, according to media reports.
However, Ukraine’s fast-paced wartime innovation does not always align with European security standards, which could complicate deeper industrial integration, Terhorst said.
European defence ministries also have to shift priorities to learn from Ukraine’s land, air and sea combat experience, Oleksander Kovalenko, a Ukrainian military expert from the Information Resistance Group said. He pointed to the Ukrainian Unmanned Systems Force, a separate branch of the army dedicated solely to drone warfare.
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