UK Partners on Ukrainian Drone Pilot Training

Skua Defence Limited and UFDS EU have partnered to deliver Ukrainian Fight Drone Simulator, a Ukraine-developed UAS training simulator, to UK and allied military customers.

The partnership comes as the UK accelerates investment in drones as a central pillar of the Defence Investment Plan. As the war in Ukraine has shown, the ability to field uncrewed systems at scale depends not only on platforms, but on the rapid generation of skilled operators and commanders able to adapt to fast-changing battlefield conditions, according to Skua Defence Limited.

UFDS is used by training centres across Ukraine and has supported the training of more than 7,000 operational Ukrainian UAS pilots. The simulator enables efficient training from beginner to advanced level across reconnaissance, strike, dropper and interceptor platforms, including operations in contested environments.

The latest UFDS release adds multi-platform functionality, allowing soldiers to rehearse the complex, coordinated drone operations that increasingly define modern warfighting. This includes scenarios in which multiple uncrewed systems are used for reconnaissance, strike, target hand-off and battlefield coordination.

Working with Skua, UFDS will be integrated into soldier UAS training and made available through deployable standalone “sim pods” for use on base, in training establishments and on exercise. The aim is to provide a practical, scalable route to build UAS competence quickly, safely and repeatedly, while drawing directly on Ukrainian operational experience.

James Westlake, the CEO of Skua Defence said, “Most of the drone discussion to date has been about hardware. We think people are just starting to wake up to the enormous training challenge of preparing a whole Army for a battlefield shaped by drones, and the headache of doing that when modern drones operate at dozens of kilometres from the soldier, and you need to train hundreds or thousands of soldiers, and have them fly every week to stay current. Simulation is the vital unlock to doing this consistently, realistically and at scale, and we’re tremendously excited to start our first project within the British Army.”

Skua Defence is a British company founded and led by former British and Ukrainian Army officers. Its focus is enabling the rapid adoption of new-generation warfighting capabilities from Ukraine into British and partner military organisations internationally, supported by an extensive on-the-ground presence in Ukraine. Skua Defence’s first project with the British Army has been confirmed and will be announced shortly.