Britain is leveraging anti-drone warfare tactics deployed by Ukraine in its fight against Russia to clamp down on drone incidents impacting the country’s prisons.
Last week, deputy prime minister David Lammy asked the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to explore the role these tried-and-tested Ukrainian battlefield tactics can play in preventing the growing trend of criminal gangs using drones to smuggle contraband into British prisons.
According to the government, there was a 770 per cent increase in such incidents from 2019 to 2023.
Between April 2024 and March 2025 alone, 1712 incidents involving drones at UK prisons occurred in England and Wales.
Lammy made the order after a recent trip to Ukraine, where he attended a Kyiv-based conference in celebration of one year of Britain’s 100-year partnership with the war-torn nation.
While in Kyiv, Lammy met with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and the country’s deputy defence minister, Yurii Myronenko.
Since the war broke out between Ukraine and Russia, Britain has been instrumental in training Ukrainian soldiers. Drone warfare has been one area in which they have collaborated closely.
Last year, Britain also pledged to provide Ukraine with £350 million worth of drones.
Having witnessed first-hand the profound impact that drones have made on Ukraine’s ability to deter Russia, the British government has made £6.5 million of funding available to the national innovation agency UK Research and Innovation for anti-drone research and development.
The funding will be delivered through competitions run by the MoJ with partners like the UK Research and Innovation and UK Defence Innovation. They’re open to British and international businesses developing anti-drone solutions that can be applied to prison security.
It comes as the British government plans to spend £40 million on wider prison security initiatives this year.
Of this funding, £10 million will be used to secure British prisons with stronger windows and outer netting capable of warding off drones.
David Lammy, deputy prime minister, said: “I’ve tasked British prisons with learning from Ukraine’s drone expertise. We know prison drones pose a direct threat to national security and that’s why we’re acting decisively to tackle these gangs by investing millions in security and cutting-edge technology.”
