Ukraine and the UK to launch production of OCTOPUS interceptor drones

Ukraine will jointly produce OCTOPUS interceptor drones with the UK. This was announced during a telethon by the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Rustem Umerov.

The official said that OCTOPUS is the first Ukrainian combat drone to be manufactured in a NATO country. According to him, up to 1000 units will be produced in the UK as part of an experiment. After that, production will be scaled up .

"To the number [to scale] that we need. We're just not going to disclose this number right now, but we're already starting and this is a very important breakthrough. Because this is a sensitive technology," Umerov said, adding that control will be "with us.".

The NSDC Secretary explained that this is a state project, implemented by the defense ministries of Ukraine and the UK. But the owner of the rights to this technology is the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

"Our side will retain intellectual property and control over these critical components," said the NSDC Secretary.

He clarified that the first batches will be manufactured at government centers in the UK. At the same time, combat use will be in Ukraine.

• In September, President Zelenskiy said that 1600 interceptors are needed to counter 800 Russian "shaheds".
• Shmyhal said that Ukraine will be able to use at least 1000 interceptor drones per day to protect against Russian attacks.