Ukraine seeks $12–20B military aid, 10 million drones and Tomahawk Missiles
Ukraine is seeking between £12 billion and £20 billion in military aid for the coming year, as part of a new NATO initiative aimed at procuring U.S. weaponry. Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal announced this requirement during a defence summit in Brussels.
Minister Shmyhal highlighted Ukraine’s capability to produce 10 million drones by 2026, provided it receives sufficient financing from its allies. Despite this ambitious drone production target, the nation still requires additional long-range artillery shells to effectively counter Russian forces.
In a related development from September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested the United States to sell Tomahawk cruise missiles to European nations, which would then supply them to Ukraine. The Tomahawk Land Attack Missile is recognised as a long-range, precision-guided cruise missile.
It is capable of striking targets up to 1,000 miles (approximately 1,600 kilometres) away, even when operating in heavily defended airspace. The specifics of how these Tomahawk missiles might be supplied to Ukraine remain to be determined.