Overview
- Operations began on Feb. 25 with the factory opened by UK Defence Minister Luke Pollard and Ukraine’s Ambassador Valerii Zaluzhnyi in Mildenhall, Suffolk.
- Ukrspecsystems says initial output will focus on PD-2, Shark and Mini-Shark systems for delivery to the Ukrainian military.
- The UK investment is valued at £200 million and is expected to create up to 500 jobs across the Mildenhall plant and a testing and training facility in Elmsett.
- Kyiv and London describe the move as a resilience measure that keeps engineering in Ukraine while adding a second production layer inside the UK.
- The launch aligns with broader ‘Build With Ukraine’ co‑production efforts, including roughly €800 million in new European partnerships and the UK’s Octopus interceptor drone production drive.