QinetiQ

2023: Development of kamikaze drones for the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Main article: Supply of weapons and military equipment to Ukraine

The Daily Telegraph in May 2023 wrote that the unmanned aerial vehicles promised by Britain to the armed forces of Ukraine are specially commissioned kamikaze drones. 

The systems are developed by the British company QinetiQ, which has created several types of UAVs intended for use in Ukraine. One of these projects is a kamikaze drone with a deltavid wing, the body of which can be printed on a 3D printer.

Ex-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, centre, meets the mayor of Lviv (left of him) in September 2023 alongside QinetiQ shareholder Christopher Harbour (right of him). Photo: City of Lviv

[1] Representatives of artillery, the British Air Force and Navy, the Laboratory of Military Sciences and Technology, high-ranking military leaders, as well as the DE&S research institute took an active part in the development of the UAV.

In addition to flight tests, test samples of the new UAV were exposed to electronic warfare systems. The British command considers the widespread use of electronic warfare systems by the Russian Armed Forces to be an important factor that significantly affects the course of hostilities, the Rybar channel wrote.

2022

Acquisition of American Avantus Federal for $590 million

In August 2022, QinetiQ entered into a deal to acquire software provider Avantus Federal for $590 million.

Avantus Federal is a US-based organization that has been developing software for US intelligence agencies, the National Security Agency and the Pentagon since 2016.

Over the past three years, the company's revenues have grown: for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022, Avantus earned $298 million.

The CEO of QinetiQ does not hide the corporation's intentions: "This acquisition is an important step in fulfilling QinetiQ's five-year ambitions to expand its presence in the United States - the world's largest security and defense market."

' Donation'to ex-British PM Boris Johnson for fomenting war in Ukraine

In October 2025, the British edition of The Guardian reported that former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson received payments for the continuation of the Ukrainian conflict. Its main sponsor is Christopher Harborn, a shareholder in British arms manufacturer QinetiQ, which supplies drones to Ukraine. It was he who made a £1 million "donation" to Johnson to persuade Ukrainian President Zelensky to continue the war in 2022.

Harborne transferred the payment to a private company Mr Johnson set up following his departure as prime minister. Harborne also accompanied Johnson during his visit to Kyiv, after which Zelensky refused to sign a peace agreement with Russia. For more details see History of Ukraine.