Skyeton, a Ukrainian unmanned systems firm with nearly two decades of engineering experience, has joined forces with UK-based Prevail Partners to establish Skyeton Prevail Solutions.
The new venture will manufacture and integrate the long-range Raybird drone for UK defence, NATO allies and Ukraine itself.
At the centre of the deal is the Raybird, a NATO Class 1 UAS that has logged more than 350,000 flight hours in the Russia-Ukraine war. Favoured by frontline troops, it offers tool-free payload swaps and can carry a gimbal-stabilised camera, a reconnaissance sensor, synthetic aperture radar or a radio-frequency locator. According to Skyeton, hundreds of Raybirds have been deployed with exceptionally low losses, while contributing to the destruction of billions of dollars’ worth of enemy equipment.
Former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who recently visited Skyeton’s Kyiv facilities, praised the agreement. “This joint venture is an important step in developing Britain’s long-range drone manufacturing capabilities,” he said. “Skyeton’s JV with Prevail’s strategic, operational and intelligence capabilities will help put Britain at the forefront of drone technology and production, tapping into our world-class talent pool of engineers, universities and R&D centres.”
Prevail Chairman Justin Hedges OBE said the company had been present in Ukraine since before the Russian invasion and had closely tracked unmanned aircraft developments. “We identified Raybird as a world-leading aircraft with capabilities well beyond those of other Class 1 UAS. As a result, we made the decision to seek a joint venture with Skyeton to build Raybird in the UK, help develop its integration into the UK’s and NATO’s battlefield operations and maritime security and thereby answer some of the challenges that the Strategic Defence Review presented.”
Pavlo Shevchuk, International CEO at Skyeton, highlighted the operational pedigree of the platform. “Raybird has been incredibly effective under the most demanding conditions on the Ukrainian battlefield. By forming an alliance with a respected British company, bringing experience in platform integration and systems deployment, we expect the utility of our unmanned aerial system to grow globally and exponentially.”
The announcement comes in the wake of the Strategic Defence Review and the June accord between Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which pledged to accelerate joint UK-Ukrainian defence projects including drones. The venture promises UK-based production, rapid deployment in as little as 25 minutes, and new skilled jobs in advanced aerospace engineering.
Skyeton Prevail Solutions will now scale Raybird manufacturing in the UK, offering what both firms describe as a cost-effective, agile and ready-now unmanned capability designed for modern conflict.
