Burnham pledges new jamming tech for Ukraine
PORTSMOUTH, GREAT BRITAIN—British Prime Minister Andy Burnham held his first meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a UK naval base on Monday, pledging new “Stone Cloak” jamming technology to help safeguard Ukraine’s drones on the battlefield.
The meeting on the dockside and on board an aircraft carrier in the southern city of Portsmouth was Burnham’s first bilateral with a foreign leader and comes ahead of a visit by Zelenskyy to Washington on Tuesday aimed at ending the four-year war with Russia.
“We are with Ukraine 100 percent. I am personally with you 100 percent, Mr. President,” Burnham assured Zelenskyy after the two men, both wearing similar dark casual clothes, shook hands on the dockside.
Zelenskyy thanked Burnham for an “important signal of support” and said he had invited Burnham to visit Ukraine, after the leaders spoke by phone within hours of the new prime minister taking office.
Vowing to “honor every commitment this country has made to Ukraine,” Burnham said Britain was “going further” and was “providing new, home-grown jamming technology to protect Ukrainian drones” as both Moscow and Kyiv intensify drone and missile strikes.
‘Useful on battlefield’
“It will help them to hit their targets and help save Ukrainian lives. It also shows the kind of innovation our industries can deliver together,” Burnham said.
Afterward, Zelenskyy wrote on X he was “grateful” to Britain for “today’s decision to provide Ukraine with electronic warfare technologies” that would “certainly be useful on the battlefield.”
The leaders met on board Britain’s flagship aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth and spoke to armed forces personnel involved in training Ukrainian service members.
“Britain stands with Ukraine, shoulder to shoulder, and our support remains unwavering,” Burnham said in a statement.
“Russia should be in no doubt of our resolve, and we will not back down until we achieve long-lasting and just peace for Ukraine.”
London announced it will share with Kyiv information on a new battle-tested electronic jamming capability dubbed “Stone Cloak.”
Home-grown innovation
When attached to drones, the tablet-sized, military-grade jammers can hinder Russian air defense systems from tracking and targeting such weapons in-flight, Downing Street said.
Thousands of the jammers, developed under a 100-year partnership pact between the countries, have already been gifted to Kyiv, according to London.
Following their roll-out and potential mass production in Ukraine, Stone Cloak will be built into the next generation of UK deep-strike capabilities, it noted.
“Stone Cloak is the best of homegrown British innovation and proven on the front line, and it will be vital to protecting our security in both our countries,” Burnham said.
