A US manufacturer is set to produce Ukraine-designed, battle-tested boat drones for the first time, as the White House bids to bolster the US’ military production and expand its uncrewed arsenal.The partnership — a memorandum of understanding between Oregon-based ReconCraft and a US subsidiary of the Ukrainian-linked defense technology company UForce — is to involve not only drones from the Magura family, but also software and command-and-control technologies.Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at the Defense Priorities policy institute, called the memorandum the “first and most advanced” she had seen between US and Ukrainian companies.
Cars drive along the road as smoke rises above residential buildings from a warehouse for a Russian e-commerce giant near Saint Petersburg after being hit by Ukrainian drones early yesterday, triggering a fire that sent smoke pouring over the historic city, local officials said.
Magura drones have long been successful in attacking Russian warships, oil tankers and infrastructure in the Black Sea. The precise model of the Magura drone to be manufactured in the US remains unspecified, as details are being finalized, ReconCraft cofounder Joe Silkowski said.Though the agreement fell short of a contract, construction needed to allow domestic production of the drones is now “under way,” he said.
