Ukraine offered the United States its war-tested technology for intercepting attack drones last year, but Washington rejected the proposal.
Axios reported that the U.S. declined Ukraine’s offer of drone cooperation. According to the outlet, about seven months ago, Ukrainian officials presented a cooperation plan to the American side. They proposed a system to counter Iranian drones that Ukraine developed during the war with Russia.
Ukraine’s proposal
The Ukrainian side prepared a presentation explaining how the technology could protect U.S. troops and allies in case of a war in the Middle East. The presentation included a map of the Middle East and a warning: “Iran is improving its Shahed one-way-attack drone design.” Ukraine also proposed creating “drone combat hubs” in Turkey, Jordan, and the Gulf states, where U.S. bases are located.
During a closed meeting at the White House on August 18, Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered interceptor drones to Donald Trump. It was meant to strengthen ties and express gratitude for U.S. support in the Russia-Ukraine war. According to the report, Ukraine presented the drone defense proposal as a business partnership. In exchange for giving the U.S. access to drone production and know-how, as well as counter-drone systems, Ukraine offered to buy American weapons.
“Our problem was money. Our resources allowed us to produce only 50% of what we can produce. So we wanted the U.S. to invest the other 50% and have a share of the production,” a Ukrainian official said.
The presentation states that Ukraine estimates its potential production capacity at up to 20 million units of weapons to “unleash American drone dominance.”
Rejection of the proposal
However, the U.S. did not support the deal at the time. According to Axios, the proposed exchange suggested that Ukraine could supply thousands of drones in return for U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles.
American officials say ignoring Ukraine’s proposal was one of the biggest tactical mistakes since attacks on Iran began on February 28. Seven U.S. service members were killed by Iranian Shahed drones, the outlet reported. Intercepting those drones cost the U.S. and its allies about $1 million.
“If there’s a tactical error or a mistake we made leading up to this [war in Iran], this was it,” a U.S. official admitted.
However, after the U.S. and Israel launched their operation against the Iranian regime, Washington eventually turned to Ukraine for technology to defend against Iranian Shahed drones. Ukraine received a request from the U.S. for help with drone defense in the Middle East, Zelenskyy said on March 5.
Earlier, The Ukrainian Review reported that Ukraine will send military specialists to Gulf countries to counter aerial attacks. Ukrainian experts will share their unique experience intercepting Iranian drones and cruise missiles. The decision followed official requests from the U.S. and countries in the region.
