LONDON. Aug 18 (Interfax) - The British Defense Ministry has signed three contracts totaling $114 million at the expense of the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU) to bolster Ukrainian air defense.
"These include a $72.1 million counter-uncrewed aerial systems contract with Norwegian defense company Kongsberg and two further contracts to provide further air defense capabilities," the ministry said.
The ministry was referring to CORTEX Typhon systems that can be installed on a vehicle to detect, follow, jam, and down drones. The systems can operate independently or as part of a network and consist of sensors, cameras, radars and electronic intelligence devices.
The ministry also said that Ukraine had received a batch of over 100 reconnaissance drones and Ukrainian troops were being trained to operate them.
In total, the international fund has drawn around $797 million from Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The UK allotted $2.9 billion on its own for further military assistance to Ukraine in 2023.
It was reported in June that the delivery of drones made by a number of European companies and procured via the UK-led IFU to Ukraine would begin in July.
These could be T150 quadcopters made by the British company Malloy Aeronautics, as well as DeltaQuad Pro VTOL and Astero ISR drones made by the Dutch company Nordic Wing, Defense News said. Lisbon-based Tekever confirmed to Defense News that its Tekever AR3 product would also be part of the shipment.