Just a week after taking the prime minister’s job, Andy Burnham hosted Volodymyr Zelensky and offered the Ukrainian leader a piece of homegrown British innovation: the “Stone Cloak” electronic warfare system. The tablet-sized device, designed to block Russian detection of any drone it is fitted to, has already been deployed by thousands of Ukrainian forces after the Ministry of Defence gave them to Kyiv. “Stone Cloak is the best of homegrown British innovation and proven on the frontline, and it will be vital to protecting our security in both our countries,” Burnham said.
During a visit to a naval base, Burnham will announce that Britain is handing over the intellectual property behind Stone Cloak, enabling Ukraine to produce the technology at scale. The move comes as the device is expected to be incorporated into the UK’s next generation of long-range strike weapons, including Project Brakestop – the government’s initiative to develop low-cost cruise missiles.
“Andy Burnham, a week into PM job, offers Zelensky the Stone Cloak electronic warfare system to block Russian drone detection.”
The renewed push to arm Ukraine unfolded as the war with Russia continued to spill across borders. Romanian President Nicusor Dan said a drone was shot down that morning at 10:13 by a Romanian Air Force F-16 over the territorial waters of Romania, in the Sulina-Chilia area. Dan added that authorities found one of the earlier intercepted drones appeared to be “a Shahed type, used by the Russian Federation in the war of aggression against Ukraine.”