The first international Defense Innovation Summit 'Drone Summit 2025' took place in Riga on May 28, 2025, gathering over 1500 political leaders, experts, scientists, and defense industry representatives from 20 Drone Coalition and allied states. The summit highlighted the increasing importance of drone and counter-drone technologies in modern warfare, with Latvia establishing an Autonomous Systems Competence Center in autumn 2025 to develop such technologies supporting national armed forces and cooperation with Latvian tech companies. Turkey and Belgium expressed their intent to join the international Drone Coalition led by Latvia and the United Kingdom to support Ukraine, committing to allocate 2.75 billion euros in aid this year. Latvia, as a leading innovator in this domain, has previously sent about 5000 combat drones to Ukraine, with the coalition's total drone support reaching 1.8 billion euros in 2024. The event included presentations on ethical use of drones in combat, innovation sessions, an expo of 100 companies from 16 countries displaying modern unmanned aerial vehicle technologies, youth engagement workshops where over 50 cadets built 30 drones destined for Ukraine's frontlines, and a pitch session for innovative startups. The summit showcased cooperative efforts to strengthen allied defense capabilities and demonstrate unified support for Ukraine against Russian aggression through drone warfare technologies.

The first international Defense Innovation Summit 'Drone Summit 2025' took place in Riga on May 28, 2025, gathering over 1500 political leaders, experts, scientists, and defense industry representatives from 20 Drone Coalition and allied states. The summit highlighted the increasing importance of drone and counter-drone technologies in modern warfare, with Latvia establishing an Autonomous Systems Competence Center in autumn 2025 to develop such technologies supporting national armed forces and cooperation with Latvian tech companies. Turkey and Belgium expressed their intent to join the international Drone Coalition led by Latvia and the United Kingdom to support Ukraine, committing to allocate 2.75 billion euros in aid this year. Latvia, as a leading innovator in this domain, has previously sent about 5000 combat drones to Ukraine, with the coalition's total drone support reaching 1.8 billion euros in 2024. The event included presentations on ethical use of drones in combat, innovation sessions, an expo of 100 companies from 16 countries displaying modern unmanned aerial vehicle technologies, youth engagement workshops where over 50 cadets built 30 drones destined for Ukraine's frontlines, and a pitch session for innovative startups. The summit showcased cooperative efforts to strengthen allied defense capabilities and demonstrate unified support for Ukraine against Russian aggression through drone warfare technologies.