UK and Ukraine plan to create a "drone wall" to protect Europe from Russian attacks

The United Kingdom intends to deploy a large-scale defense system of its own drones in Eastern Europe to strengthen the defense of NATO countries against Russian attacks, the country's Defense Minister John Healey said in an interview with The Telegraph, Ukrinform reports.

The concept involves creating a so-called "drone wall" – the deployment of low-cost drones along the Alliance's borders to intercept Russian drones and missiles. The idea was discussed by European ministers on September 26, 2025. According to Ghealy, the new strategy is a response to dangerous maneuvers by Russia.

Britain is implementing this project in cooperation with Ukraine as part of the Project OCTOPUS program. Production of interceptor drones will begin in the coming weeks at British factories. According to Healy, the country will use modern technologies that are "available to us, but not to them," which will allow mass production of thousands of devices to support Ukraine and its allies.

A feature of the agreement between London and Kyiv is the joint ownership of intellectual property for new developments. This opens up the possibility of their use not only in Ukraine, but also in NATO countries.

The minister emphasized that these interceptors have already demonstrated effectiveness against Shahed-type strike drones, and their cost is less than a tenth of the cost of similar competitor systems.

In the future, the United Kingdom plans to integrate these devices into its own air defense system to protect military facilities and critical infrastructure.

By the way, earlier, Ukrainian Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal reported that the United Kingdom will produce Ukrainian interceptor drones. He noted that initially it is planned to produce the first thousand drones, which will be delivered to Ukraine.