Ukraine’s anti-drone tech is in high demand as Iran attacks its neighbors

kyiv, Ukraine — As conflict in the Middle East intensifies, Ukraine could prove to be an invaluable trove of battle-tested expertise from its own bitter and costly fight against Russia.

After months of pressure and toughened rhetoric from Washington aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, kyiv is now also responding to requests for help as Iran’s Gulf neighbors grapple with the modern reality of drone warfare.

Hotels, airports and residential buildings have been hit in Gulf cities, wreaking havoc as Iran targets U.S. military bases hosted by its neighbors. It’s an all-too-familiar image in Ukraine, whose skies are invaded every night by hundreds of Russian drones, many of them of the Shahed type designed in Iran.

kyiv’s forces divert the majority of them every night, not with expensive air defense missiles — as many Middle Eastern countries have done — but with much cheaper and more effective interceptor drones, technology perfected by four years of intense drone warfare.

The raging war has made Ukraine a unique “ecosystem” that allows for real-time testing of innovative drone technologies on the battlefield, said Marko Kushnir, a spokesman for General Cherry, one of Ukraine’s leading drone manufacturers.

“The feedback loop between the front and the manufacturer is very short,” Kushnir said. “We can get feedback in the morning and have a solution in the evening that will allow us to tackle new tasks on the battlefield. »

Created in 2023 by a group of veterans and volunteers, the kyiv-based company produces nearly 100,000 drones per month, Kushnir said. One of its flagship interceptor drones specifically stops the Shaheds and is actively used by the Ukrainian armed forces, he added. The company was invited to participate in the Pentagon’s billion-dollar Drone Dominance initiative before the war in Iran broke out.

It’s a level of expertise that Ukraine has paid dearly for, Kushnir said – “with lives, territories and a very long war against a larger, better-resourced enemy.”

There are two countries in the world that know from experience how to wage a fierce daily technological war with drones, he said. “It’s us and Russia,” Kushnir added.

Ukraine’s allies now recognize this, he said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier this week that he had received nearly a dozen requests from the United States and countries in the Middle East and Europe regarding Ukraine’s “experience in protecting lives, relevant interceptors, electronic warfare systems and training.”

Ukraine’s experience in combating attack drones is “irreplaceable,” he said in a series of articles on X, and “the most advanced in the world.” kyiv has sent teams to the Middle East, Zelensky said Wednesday, raising the prospect of an arms exchange as Ukraine desperately needs air defense missiles to counter the sophisticated weapons Russia uses almost daily against Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure.

“It’s not about being involved in operations. We are not at war with Iran,” Zelensky told Reuters in comments published on Sunday. “This is about protection and a thorough and comprehensive assessment on our part on how to counter the Shaheds,” he said.

He said what Ukraine would get in return for the aid still needs to be discussed, adding: “Honestly, for us today, technology and financing are important.”