Ukraine has begun preparing a formal Drone Deal with Canada, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced Monday, and a Canadian company is already in advanced talks to produce Ukrainian battlefield drones on Canadian soil.
Zelensky called it “a very significant expansion of security cooperation,” placing Canada among nearly 20 countries engaged with Ukraine on drone deals at various stages. Four agreements have already been signed and the first manufacturing contracts are being prepared.
The Canadian company at the center is Sentinel, a drone manufacturer that the Globe and Mail reported two weeks ago is in talks to establish a joint venture with Ukraine to produce drones in Canada for the Ukrainian Armed Forces — all output during the war directed to Ukrainian forces.
The Drone Deal is more than a drone export agreement. Zelensky has described it as a comprehensive defense architecture combining Ukrainian battlefield drones, protection against mass swarm attacks, deployed air defense systems, and electronic warfare capabilities — “a unique system that exists today only in Ukraine because of this terrible war.”
The framework covers at least 10 separate contract types: weapon exports, joint production lines in Ukraine and partner countries, and co-development agreements funded by partner states. Political agreements come first, manufacturer contracts follow.
Zelensky has said the concept was originally proposed to Trump. “We prepared the Drone Deal for the United States, I proposed it to President Trump.” It did not move forward — the administration has since halted all military aid to Ukraine.
The US’s war in Iran made drone economics impossible to ignore. Iranian-style attack drones cost between $20,000 and $50,000 each, while Patriot interceptor missiles cost several million dollars per launch. Ukraine’s four years of frontline experience developing cost-effective interception systems became one of the most commercially valuable defense assets in the world.
Related: Russia Lost Territory in Ukraine for the First Time Since 2024
Since February 28, Zelensky signed 10-year defense cooperation agreements with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE in late March, and then deals in Germany, Norway, and the Netherlands in April. Saudi Arabia separately purchased Ukrainian interceptor missiles outright.
Read: Ukraine Signs 10-Year Defense Deals With Gulf States, Leveraging Drone War Expertise
Canada joined the EU’s Security Action for Europe defense procurement fund in December 2025 as the first non-European partner, with drones listed among priority spending categories. The Carney government has committed to raising defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035 — one of NATO’s most aggressive timelines — and has been actively seeking Canadian industrial partners to build that capacity domestically.
A joint venture with Ukraine through Sentinel would deliver battle-proven technology while anchoring production in Canada, a defense sovereignty priority the government has pursued since the tariff war reshaped its industrial strategy.
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