Patria, Ukrainian SME partner to develop new drones

A new partnership between Finland-based defence company Patria and Ukraine-based SME General Cherry will see the companies jointly develop new drones to bolster European defence. 

According to an announcement by Patria on 23 August, the company also plans to initiate production of the drones in Finland. 

Speaking to DSEI Gateway, Mikko Leino, Executive Vice President of Patria’s defence and weapon systems business area, said that the partnership would bring together the “complementary strengths” of the two companies. 

Specifically, General Cherry’s expertise in developing and serially producing first person view, interceptor, and fixed-wing drones will be combined with Patria’s experience in uncrewed technologies and system-level capability development. 

The next steps  

While a letter of intent has been signed by the two companies to formalise the new partnership, the full scope of the cooperation is yet to be finalised. Leino was unable to comment on specific product designs or production details to DSEI Gateway.  

However, he said that a “detailed division of responsibilities will be defined” as the partnership progresses.  

“The partnership supports Europe’s defence by accelerating the development and potential production of uncrewed systems in Finland,” Leino added. 

“We believe that our unique battlefield experience, combined with Patria’s technological capabilities, can help drive a fundamental transformation of the European and global security architecture,” Stanislav Hryshyn, co-founder of General Cherry, said.