Germany's Ukraine Drone Deal.
Germany finances 50,000 advanced Shrike drones for Ukraine worth €90 million, boosting defense capabilities.
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Key Points
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Some of the 50,000 Shrike FPV drones have already been delivered to Ukraine, with the remainder scheduled for delivery in 2026.
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The Shrike 10-F model, produced by SkyFall in partnership with Skycutter, recently took first place in the opening round of a Pentagon competition for hundreds of thousands of one-way attack drones.
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Auterion says it is supporting a broader push to deliver up to 100,000 Western-funded drones to Ukraine this year, including about 33,000 drones under a Pentagon contract.
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SkyFall has confirmed Germany’s involvement in financing the purchase but declined to disclose contract details.
Germany is financing the purchase of 50,000 Shrike FPV attack drones for Ukraine in a deal worth roughly €90 million, making it one of the largest known drone orders by any Western government, according to Newsmax. Some drones have already been delivered to Ukrainian forces, with the rest set to arrive by the end of 2025.
The drones are made by Ukrainian manufacturer SkyFall and run on software from Auterion, a defense tech firm. Auterion CEO Lorenz Meier confirmed the contract scale and the delivery timeline. SkyFall acknowledged Germany's role in financing the deal but declined to share further details, Economic Times reported.
What the Shrike Drone Can Do in Combat
The Shrike is an FPV drone — short for first-person view — meaning a pilot guides it using a headset that streams live video from the drone's camera. But the Shrike goes further than a standard FPV. It uses Auterion software to track and hit moving targets on its own in the final seconds of flight. That makes it harder to stop with electronic jamming.
The specific model in Germany's order is the Shrike 10-F, built by SkyFall in partnership with a firm called Skycutter. That model recently won first place in the opening round of a Pentagon competition for hundreds of thousands of one-way attack drones, according to Hashtag Albania. One-way drones are designed to fly into a target and detonate — they don't return.
Germany Steps Up as a Major Drone Supplier to Ukraine
Germany has steadily increased its military support for Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. This €90 million drone contract is a sharp signal of how far that support has gone. Funding 50,000 attack drones is not a token gesture — it is a sustained battlefield supply commitment, Koha noted.
SkyFall confirmed Berlin's involvement in financing the purchase. The company did not share the exact contract terms. But the sheer size of the order — and the delivery speed — points to growing urgency among Western allies to keep Ukraine stocked with drone firepower as the war continues.
A Bigger Western Push to Flood Ukraine With Drones
Germany's deal is part of a much larger effort. Auterion says it is helping deliver up to 100,000 Western-funded drones to Ukraine in 2025 alone. That total includes roughly 33,000 drones under a separate Pentagon contract, according to Taylorville Daily News. The scale reflects how central drones have become to modern warfare in Ukraine.
Ukraine burns through drones at an enormous rate. Both sides use them for strikes, surveillance, and disrupting supply lines. Western governments are trying to build steady supply pipelines so Ukrainian forces are never short. Germany's 50,000-drone order is one of the clearest examples yet of that strategy in action.
Pentagon Competition Win Signals Growing U.S. Interest in Shrike
The Shrike 10-F's first-place finish in a Pentagon drone competition adds another layer to this story. The U.S. military is looking to buy hundreds of thousands of one-way attack drones. A top finish in that competition means the Shrike is not just Ukraine's weapon of choice — it is catching the eye of American defense planners too, Newsmax reported.
That dual interest — from Germany, the Pentagon, and Ukraine — puts SkyFall and Auterion at the center of a fast-growing market for affordable, autonomous attack drones. With wars increasingly decided by drone volume and technology, both firms are positioned to scale quickly if demand keeps rising.
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