KYIV — The US has requested Ukraine to share its battlefield experience in countering Iranian-made drones, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated Thursday.
Zelenksy stated he gave directions to “present the required means and make sure the presence of Ukrainian specialists” who will help defend the US within the conflict in opposition to Iran.
“Ukraine helps companions who assist guarantee our safety and defend the lives of our folks,” he stated.
The experience might assist the US and companion nations save not simply lives however thousands and thousands of {dollars}, as Ukraine has developed cheaper alternate options to capturing down the drones as an alternative of counting on $4 million Patriot interceptor missiles, Kyiv officers stated.
Requested concerning the growth by The Put up on Thursday, President Trump praised cooperation amongst allied international locations responding to the menace.
“We’re having a number of success. We’ve a number of nice champions,” Trump stated of companion nations serving to counter assaults linked to Iran. “We’ve a number of winners.”
Nations within the Center East have been dealing with strikes from Iranian “Shahed” drones — the identical sort broadly utilized by Russia in opposition to Ukrainian cities because the begin of the full-scale invasion.
“We obtained indicators from companions within the Center East. There have been strikes by Iranian ‘shaheds’ on civilians in these international locations,” Zelensky additionally stated in a submit to X. “They’re in search of our experience.”
It was an Iranian drone strike that killed six US troopers in Kuwait on March 1, because the US army was unable to intercept it in time.
Ukraine has spent years build up defenses in opposition to the long-range one-way assault drones, creating interceptor drones and different techniques to deliver them down extra cheaply than conventional air-defense missiles.
Within the submit, which used remarks he made to Rai Italia, Zelensky stated Kyiv could be open to sharing that have.
“If their representatives come, we’ll present the experience,” he stated, including that requests have additionally come from European companions and america to share classes realized from Ukraine’s protection in opposition to drone barrages.
Requested about Zelensky’s provide, Trump additionally advised Reuters on Thursday he would “take any help from any nation.”
Maj. Gen. Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy chief of Ukraine’s protection intelligence, advised The Put up in Kyiv on Monday that Kyiv’s method is multi-pronged — a necessity for the advanced threats of contemporary warfare.
“We’ve the experience to know when and from which course the Shaheds are launched, and the routes they fly,” he stated. “We use various kinds of air protection programs in cooperation — cellular teams, missiles, anti-air protection programs and radio digital warfare.”
Skibitskyi predicted that Kyiv would almost definitely present Ukrainian troops to coach companion militaries on how one can tackle the menace.
“I believe to start with, we’re going to be instructors — trainers. Then they may share their experience in every of these parts of the system,” he stated. “The firing teams, the anti-air missiles and the digital warfare, as a result of a giant a part of the intercepted drones are precisely smashed with the anti-radio warfare.”
“A giant a part of the intercepted drones are literally introduced down utilizing digital warfare.”
That technique might save the US and its companions thousands and thousands of {dollars}, as it’s a far cheaper choice to down drones than utilizing air-defense missiles like Patriot interceptors — which price round $4 million per shot.
Ukraine stays closely reliant on Western air-defense programs, significantly the Patriot, however Zelensky stated these missiles are too costly to make use of in opposition to massive waves of low-cost drones.
“They’ve missiles for the Patriots, however lots of or hundreds of ‘shaheds’ can’t be intercepted with Patriot missiles — it’s too pricey,” he stated.
As an alternative, Ukraine has leaned more and more on interceptor drones and different cheaper instruments to shoot down incoming threats.
On the similar time, Zelensky acknowledged Ukraine faces its personal shortages of key air-defense munitions, together with PAC-2 and PAC-3 interceptor missiles utilized by Patriot batteries.
“Concerning weapons: we ourselves are at conflict,” he stated. “We’ve a scarcity of PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles.”
Due to these shortages, Zelensky stated Ukraine could be open to broader expertise or weapons exchanges with allies.
He additionally urged the drone cooperation might grow to be a two-way change of army expertise.
“Relating to expertise or weapons change, I imagine our nation will likely be open to it,” he stated.
