As Middle Eastern countries struggle to take down Iranian drones, Ukraine sends 200 experts to help
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After Iranian Shahed drones struck the Mina Al-Ahamadi oil refinery in Kuwait on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that Kyiv has sent more than 200 military experts to the Middle East to help protect critical infrastructure from the same type of threat Ukraine has been facing for years.
Zelenskyy said that 228 Ukrainian experts were sent to five countries – Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan.
After the US and Israel launched an attack on Iran on February 28, the Gulf Arab countries were targeted with more than 2,000 drones and missiles.
Those countries, hit by energy infrastructure, hotels and embassies, are also willing to buy thousands of Ukrainian interceptor drones, while Kyiv says “serious deals and agreements are being prepared”.
“In the last week, we had four different requests for consultants from the Middle East,” said Andrii Sych, founder of the Kyiv-based UV military group, a manufacturer that also collaborates with other drone companies.
“So I would say the demand is very high.”
He told CBC News that one of the inquiries came from the United Arab Emirates, but the manufacturer has not yet officially sold the interceptors because it needs an export license from Kyiv and permission to sell defense technology abroad.
Ukraine did it incomparable experience when it comes to taking down Iranian drones, first used by Russia in the fall of 2022.
Since then, manufacturers across the country have been at the forefront of developing drone interceptors – new ones driven by everyday deadly attacks and technology that has been tested extensively in the war.
Sych, which had been working as a developer testing applications for mobile devices, was diverted to drone development after the start of the war.
At first he was working on interceptors to take down Russian drones, but he said company pfocused on large, winged Shahed-style aircraft because Ukraine was facing what he called “a crisis of air defense solutions.”
‘Bullet with wings’
In an undisclosed location in the Kyiv region, where a tattered Russian flag has been placed as a doormat, Sych and Danylo Kholiavko, the founder of the UV military collection, demonstrate how one of the manufacturer’s deterrents works.
The body frame was 3D printed and its shape, which Sych described as looking like a “bullet with wings,” was inspired by the racing drones used by Red Bull.
Kholiavko shows a model that can travel more than 300 kilometers per hour and contains a thermal camera to detect Shahds, which are usually launched at night.
When deployed, the drone is equipped with explosives. It can be detonated from a distance or it can detonate on contact after hitting a target aircraft.
Ukrainian private companies are receiving calls from countries across the Middle East, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, asking for interceptor drones. Cheap weapons are needed to fight Iran’s Shahed drones as the US and Israel-Iran war escalates.
Depending on the specific model, the interceptor itself will cost about $2,000 US, but Kholiavko said there will be additional costs for the substation, which contains the radar, and the personnel who control it.
“We have three years of experience in blocking [Shahed] Drones and we know how complicated it is,” said Kholiavko.
“The first six months were very difficult and we did not catch any drones.”
He said that changed after they worked on tactics and working with workers on the ground.
Developing technology
Sych told CBC News that when it comes to interceptors, there are actually three ways of working.
Others are controlled at all times by a pilot on the ground wearing goggles that shows the feed from the drone’s camera. Some models are equipped with software that allows the drone to track and hit a target automatically after being launched by the pilot.
The third version, which Sych says he has never seen used, is completely independent. After the target is identified, it will automatically open itself.
“The most important thing in the whole program is the people and their training,” he said.
“You can have a very advanced autonomous UAV and be zero in real life.”
The UV military group says it can produce about 7,000 interceptors a month.
Earlier this week, while in London to meet with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Zelenskyy said that if you take into account all Ukrainian drone manufacturers, they can produce about 2,000 interceptors every day.
He said the country needs about half of them to meet its defense needs, but could sell the rest if those countries agree to help Ukraine.
Kyiv is already jointly producing drones with Germany, Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands, and will soon start an agreement with Norway.
