By Cassell Bryan-Low

LONDON, July 12 (Reuters) - Germany is funding 50,000 attack drones for Ukraine, a source familiar with the matter said, in an order that ‌marks one of the biggest known purchases of drones for Kyiv by a ‌Western government.

Ukraine has relied heavily on a range of unmanned vehicles during the more than four-year-old war against ​Russia, and it is producing millions of drones annually as Ukrainian forces conduct thousands of drone strikes each day.

The attack drone order involves Shrike first-person-view (FPV) drones made by major Ukrainian manufacturer SkyFall and equipped with software from U.S. defence technology firm Auterion designed to autonomously track ‌and hit moving targets in ⁠the final phase of the flight.

Auterion CEO Lorenz Meier confirmed the size of the contract, adding that it was worth about €90 million ($103 million) ⁠and was funded by a European country. Meier told Reuters some of the drones had already been delivered to Ukraine's government with the rest due for dispatch this year.

SkyFall confirmed Germany's involvement, ​but ​said the company could not comment on the ​details of the purchase.

Germany's Defence Ministry ‌declined to comment, citing operational security.

Ukraine's Defence Ministry also declined to comment.

SHRIKE CATCHES PENTAGON'S EYE

The Shrike, a low-cost drone that has been deployed in Ukraine since 2023, recently gained prominence overseas.

A version called Shrike 10-F produced by SkyFall with UK company Skycutter recently topped the leaderboard in the first round of a Pentagon-run competition as part of a $1.1 billion ‌initiative to buy hundreds of thousands of one-way attack ​drones. Auterion said its software was being used ​in several entries in the competition.

Meier said ​Auterion was helping to supply a total of 100,000 drones for ‌Ukraine this year in partnership with different ​hardware makers, funded by ​several Western governments.

That also includes a $50 million Pentagon contract to provide 33,000 drones, which he said have been delivered to Ukraine.

Last month, Britain said it would provide ​150,000 drones to Ukraine ‌this year as part of a broader £752 million ($1.01 billion) funding package.

($1 = 0.8762 euros)

($1 = ​0.7460 pounds)

(Reporting by Cassell Bryan-Low; Additional reporting by Sabine Siebold in Berlin and ​Daniel Flynn in Kyiv;Editing by Helen Popper)