During his official visit to the United Kingdom, President Volodymyr Zelensky unveiled the innovative OCTOPUS interceptor drone, designed through a collaboration between Ukrainian and British engineers.

According to the President's Office, the UK will begin production of these drones for testing in Ukraine. If the trials are successful, production will be scaled up both in the UK and at Ukrainian facilities. Bloomberg reports that the country aims to produce about 2,000 OCTOPUS units monthly for delivery to Ukraine.

The OCTOPUS drone is the outcome of a joint defense initiative developed by Ukrainian engineers, particularly from Ukrspecsystems, with strong support from British scientists and technical experts. The primary purpose of this interceptor is to combat hostile strike drones, especially the Russian Shahed-136/"Geran-2".

A key advantage of the OCTOPUS is its cost-effectiveness: estimates suggest its price is less than 10% of the cost of its intended targets, making it a more economical alternative to expensive surface-to-air missiles.

The UK Ministry of Defense is also considering the OCTOPUS as a future foundation for a European "drone wall"—a permanent air defense system along NATO's eastern border to counter Russian drones.

The OCTOPUS project marks the first joint defense initiative under a new agreement between Ukraine and the UK for military technology exchange. Future plans include launching a joint production of glide bombs between the two countries.