Ukraine signs agreement with UK and Babcock to improve navy

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defence (MoD), the UK government, and Babcock announced on 23 June that they had signed a memorandum of implementation (MOI) on the Ukrainian Naval Capabilities Enhancement Programme (UNCEP). The MOI was signed by UK minister for defence procurement Jeremy Quin, the UK's First Sea Lord Admiral Tony Radakin, and Ukrainian deputy defence minister Oleksandr Myroniuk on the Royal Navy Type 45 destroyer HMS Defender in the Black Sea port of Odesa.

The MOI builds on an agreement signed by Kyiv with the United Kingdom during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to London in October 2020, under which GBP1.25 billion (USD1.74 billion) is to be spent to strengthen the Ukrainian Navy.

The UK government said on its website on 23 June that the UNCEP includes the introduction of new capabilities to the Ukrainian Navy through the delivery of new naval platforms and defensive shipborne armaments, training of the service's personnel, the creation of new naval bases, and Kyiv's procurement of two Sandown-class mine-countermeasures vessels (MCMVs). Babcock added in a 23 June press release that the capabilities of existing Ukrainian naval platforms would be improved and that new ones would be delivered, including fast attack missile craft and a modern frigate capability. The company said that the UNCEP also includes the development, implementation, and completion of a plan to regenerate Ukrainian shipyards.