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Ukraine and Germany have signed a strategic defense partnership worth billions of dollars covering drones, missiles, and more.

Getting into it: The deal was reached after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Berlin on Tuesday to meet with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. On Germany’s end, Berlin will fund contracts for hundreds of Patriot missiles and 36 additional launchers for IRIS-T air defense systems for Ukraine, enter a joint drone production agreement targeting medium- and long-range systems, and back Ukraine’s ability to strike deeper into Russian territory with dedicated financing.

In return, Ukraine will share its battlefield data and combat expertise (giving Germany access to real-time data from AI detection systems and battlefield management platforms, along with analysis of German weapon systems already deployed in Ukraine). Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said the full package is worth roughly $4.7 billion.

Both leaders said the arrangement benefits both sides. Zelenskyy also said Ukraine has the production capacity to double its current military output but lacks the funding to do so (which he alluded this deal would help achieve). Merz also pushed back on any notion that Germany is simply writing a check for Ukraine’s benefit. “No army in Europe has been as battle-tested in recent decades as Ukraine’s,” he said, adding that the data exchange will lead to the development of new weapons systems and give Europe “a greater degree of independence.”

The signing came on the same day Russia launched a missile strike on the eastern city of Dnipro, killing four people and wounding at least 21, with ten in serious condition.