VDL will produce drones in Born for Ukrainian company Greentech Harvest. A declaration of intent to this end was signed by the parties during Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky's recent visit to the Netherlands.
Both an attack drone (the K4 Deepstrike) and a reconnaissance drone (the Midstrike Plane Baton) will roll off the production line in Born, several Dutch media report. It is not known when production will actually start.
Defence production to scale up in the Netherlands
It has long been clear that production of defence-related products is a key focus for VDL in Born. In March, for instance, VDL together with Defence announced a collaboration around scaling up defence production in the Netherlands. This includes an important role for the Born plant.
VDL also reported late last year that production of defence equipment has started in Born. These include unmanned vehicles for defence company Milrem Robotics, drones for DeltaQuad and batteries for defence from company Tulip Tech.
K4 Deepstrike and Midstrike Plane Baton
VDL is now continuing this focus with its collaboration with Greentech Harvest. Both the K4 Deepstrike and the Midstrike Plane Baton will reportedly be produced in the Netherlands. No information about either drone can be found online and no details are known.
The production of drones in Born follows the announcement earlier this week that Defence is releasing 248 million euros for drones for Ukraine. Defence reported then that these drones will be produced in both the Netherlands and Ukraine. It is unclear whether this earlier announcement is related to the cooperation between VDL and Greentech Harvest that has now been announced.
Details missing
Details about the plans are lacking as yet. For instance, it is unknown when production will start, how many drones are to roll off the production line in Born and when the first drone can be delivered. Financial details about the deal are also unknown.
