Germany plans to purchase Ukrainian jet-powered Bars drone missiles

Germany plans to buy a batch of jet-powered Bars drone missiles, developed in Ukraine. The country’s authorities could sign a procurement deal in the coming weeks, the Financial Times reports, citing sources.

The first batch will be intended for trials by the armed forces, which will take place early next year. If the military is satisfied with the results, the country may order several hundred more missile-drones.

The Bundeswehr will receive the Bars from a joint German-Ukrainian venture that manufactures these products. It was launched in September, and for now its output goes only to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They received the first batch of drones in October, the FT reports.

The joint venture now intends to produce for Germany. According to the FT, this will be the first known procurement of offensive weapons developed in Ukraine for the Bundeswehr’s own use.

With this contract, Germany wants to expand its arsenal of cheap missiles that could overload an adversary’s air defence. In parallel, the country is considering other suppliers – the American startup Covenant, the German-British Hypersonica and the Dutch Destinus.

The latter supplies Ukraine with the Ruta missile, and its co-founder and president is Oleksandr Danylyuk, a former Minister of Finance of Ukraine. The company also has assembly facilities in Ukraine.

The base version of the Bars has a range of up to 700 km and a warhead weighing 22.5 kg. At the same time, the drone has received a modification with an extended range and a larger warhead: it can fly 1,000 km and carry up to 60 kg of explosives.

The manufacturer produces around 2,000 drones per month in various modifications and configurations, Defender reported in September. In addition to Germany, it has also held talks on exports with the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France, Belgium and the UAE.