UK donating undersea 6 minehunter drones to help Ukraine clear coastline

The UK is to give underwater drones to Ukraine and train Ukrainian personnel to use them.

The Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom reported this.

Underwater drones will be used to clear the coastline of mines.

Six autonomous minehunting vehicles will be sent to Ukraine to help detect Russian mines in the waters off its coast.

Three of these will be provided from UK stocks, with a further three to be purchased from industry.

The lightweight autonomous vehicle is designed for use in shallow coastal environments, operating effectively at depths of up to 100m.

It is at such a distance that they can detect, locate and identify mines using an array of sensors so the Ukrainian Navy can destroy them.

The Ministry of Defense of Great Britain reported that in the coming months dozens of Ukrainian Navy personnel will be taught to use drones on the territory of the island country.

The Royal Navy’s Diving & Threat Exploitation Group will conduct the three-week training courses, alongside the US Navy 6th Fleet.

Having considerable experience using the equipment, they will conduct training at sea to operate the vessels and interpret the data they send back to identify mock mines.

The British Ministry of Defense did not specify exactly which devices Ukraine will receive.

As previously reported, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, during his visit to Kyiv on August 24, announced the allocation of a new £54 million military aid package to Ukraine.