Patria and the Ukrainian drone manufacturer General Cherry have signed a letter of intent on cooperation and planned drone production in Finland. The agreement was signed in Kyiv in the presence of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, and is intended to combine Ukrainian experience in drone production with Patria’s industrial and technical capacity.
According to a press release from Patria, the letter of intent was signed on 23 August. The cooperation is set to encompass joint development of unmanned solutions for Western European defence needs.
General Cherry develops and mass-produces, among other things, FPV drones, fibre-optic controlled drones, drones for engaging aerial targets, and fixed-wing drones. Patria states that the company has spent several years developing its expertise in unmanned systems and is working on next-generation solutions, including AI-based applications for unmanned aerial systems.
“Unmanned defence systems are central to the defence of the future, which is why we have invested in the development of unmanned systems as part of our operations for several years. The partnership with General Cherry further strengthens Patria’s expertise in unmanned defence systems and drone development,” says Mikko Leino, head of Patria’s Defence and Weapon Systems business area, in the press release.
General Cherry writes on LinkedIn that the company’s experience in large-scale drone production for real combat needs, with short development cycles based on data from the front line, will now be combined with Finnish industrial capacity. The company describes production in Finland and Ukrainian defence technology expertise as the two main components of the cooperation.
“It is a great honour for us to begin a productive, long-term, and effective partnership with Patria. We believe that our unique experience from the battlefield, combined with Patria’s technical capacity, can contribute to a fundamental change in Europe’s and the global security architecture,” says Stanislav Hryshyn, co-founder of General Cherry, in Patria’s press release.
The agreement was signed in Kyiv, Ukraine, in connection with Finnish President Alexander Stubb’s visit to Ukraine, as NDS previously reported. Stubb states that seven Finnish companies accompanied him to Kyiv, and that Insta, Boomeranger, and Patria signed agreements with their respective counterparts during the visit. According to the president, industrial cooperation is developing across the land, sea, and air domains.
Patria’s CEO Panu Routila writes on LinkedIn that the letter of intent was signed in Kyiv and confirms that the plan is to launch drone production in Finland. No timeline for the start of production, planned volumes, or which of General Cherry’s drone systems will be manufactured in Finland is specified in the published material.