Netherlands Will Supply Nirawak Reconnaissance Planes To Ukraine

MQ-9uans, one of the types of unmanned reconnaissance aircraft owned by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. (Airforce Technology)

JAKARTA - The Netherlands will supply Ukraine with reconnaissance drones worth 42.6 million euros (approximately IDR 715.8 billion), Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said on Saturday.

"Currently, Ukraine is in dire need of modern drones... The Dutch company DeltaQuad will supply Ukraine with reconnaissance drones worth 42.6 million euros," Brekelmans said via social media X.

"This is the first step to implement the country's drone action plan, which was announced earlier this month," he said as reported by Antara.

Earlier this month, Brekelmans said that the Netherlands would allocate 400 million euros for drone development for Ukraine.

The Dutch defense minister said the two countries would work together to create modern drones and accelerate successful prototype production, with nearly half of which would be developed in the Netherlands.

Brekelmans also previously said that the Netherlands had sent the first batch of F-16 fighter jets from 24 promised to Ukraine and would send the rest in the coming months.

The Netherlands allocated 10.4 billion euros in its budget for military aid to Kiev, with nearly 4 billion euros spent.

Western countries have stepped up their military and financial aid to Kiev since the start of Russia's military operations in Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia has repeatedly said that arms supplies to Ukraine hindered conflict resolution and directly involved NATO countries in the conflict.

Russian officials have also warned that any cargo containing weapons to Ukraine will be a legitimate target for Russian attacks.