The Norwegian government has announced a decision to allocate 6.5 billion Norwegian kroner (about $640 million) to purchase drones for the Ukrainian Defense Forces. This is stated in an official statement by the Norwegian authorities. The drones are planned to be purchased from both European and Ukrainian manufacturers. This will be the first major contract of this type to be concluded directly with foreign companies.
"Drones play a vital part in Ukraine’s fight to defend itself. They are important both to protect critical infrastructure and for use on the front line. The contribution from Norway will significantly enhance Ukraine’s capacity to carry out necessary surveillance and operations using drones," said Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
This initiative is part of a broader support program approved by the Norwegian parliament in March, which provides for the allocation of 50 billion kroner (approximately $4.93 billion) in assistance to Ukraine in 2025. Particular attention is paid to areas that Ukraine itself will determine as priorities. This could include air defense, artillery, drones, and domestically produced defense equipment.
By the way, it recently became known that the Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace is expanding cooperation with Ukraine to produce new versions of air defense missiles. It is noted that this primarily concerns the development and production of Ukrainian versions of missiles for the Norwegian-American NASAMS air defense systems.