US turns to Ukraine for drone defense expertise in Iran war, but solutions may take time

One week after the start of the US war in iranAmerican drone expert Brett Velicovich joined News host Jesse Watters to tout the role of advanced American drone defense technology used in the operation. On the split screen next to him, images of air defenses shooting down Iranian Shahed drones seemed to underline his point.

Except they weren’t American air defenses.

“Hey @NewsNews, little clarification,” Wild Hornets, a Ukrainian drone company, wrote in X. “The images shown in this segment show STING, a Ukrainian interceptor drone developed by Wild Hornets engineers and used by Ukrainian air defense units to destroy Shahed-type drones.”

The confusion brought renewed attention to both Ukraine’s drone expertise and the United States’ lack of preparedness for drone defense, as Iran’s aerial bombardments deplete interceptor stockpiles across the Middle East.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that Ukraine will work with the Pentagon and its Gulf allies to share what it has learned during four years of drone warfare. And a spokesperson for Wild Hornets, the Ukrainian drone company, confirmed to News themezone that it is “ready to assist Ukraine’s strategic partners if asked to do so.”

But experts say solutions will take time.

“It has taken Ukraine a long time to achieve its high interception rates,” Robert Tollast, a drone expert at the Royal United Services Institute, told News themezone. “There is no standard solution that can simply be purchased. Building a layered air defense system requires more resources and takes time to incorporate that technology into security forces.”

Cost mismatch

Just a few days after the war in Iran began, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf were already They are running out of interceptorstwo regional officials confirmed to News themezone on Wednesday. At the heart of the problem was the cost mismatch between the expensive interceptors used to shoot down comparatively cheap Iranian drones. The Pac-3 Patriot air defense missiles used by many of the United States’ allies in the Gulf cost around $12 million to produce, while an Iranian Shahed drone costs $50,000.

On Wednesday, Zelenskyy announced that the Pentagon and US allies in the Gulf were looking to Ukraine’s expertise to solve the problem.

“We received a request from the United States for specific support in protecting against the ‘shaheds’ in the Middle East region. I gave instructions to provide the necessary means and ensure the presence of Ukrainian specialists who can ensure the required security,” Zelenskyy said on

Ukraine is particularly well suited to advise on more cost-effective solutions to shooting down drones, as it has often lacked more expensive Western air defense systems throughout its war. Zelenskyy noted in a press conference this week that the 800 Patriot air defense missiles used by Gulf states to intercept Iranian missiles and drones have already exceeded the total number of Patriot missiles provided to Ukraine during its four years war with russia.

Instead, kyiv has invested in a layered system of missile interceptors, drone interceptors, heavy machine guns and aircraft that shoot down Russian drones. Army interceptor drones, which include Wild Hornets’ Sting drones, cost as little as $2,500, significantly less expensive than anti-aircraft missiles used throughout the Middle East.

“Now everyone can see that Ukraine’s defense experience is, in many respects, irreplaceable,” Zelenskyy said on X. “We are ready to share this experience and help those nations that helped Ukraine this winter and throughout this war.”

Long-term cooperation, no quick fix

Even as Ukraine deploys its expertise in the Middle East, collaboration is more likely to take the form of long-term partnerships rather than quick solutions to current shortcomings facing US allies in the Gulf.

The solutions, experts say, are as much about tactics and knowledge sharing as they are about implementing a particular technology.

“There is no single magic bullet, an interceptor drone, that is capable of shooting down these drones,” Deborah Fairlamb, founder of Ukraine-based defense venture capital firm Green Flag Ventures, told News themezone. “Within Ukraine, it is a multi-layered defense that they use from the border with Russia and that they can trace.”

Even for Wild Hornets’ Sting drones, which have shot down 3,900 drones over Ukraine since May 2025, making an impact in the Middle East would take time.

“We can train an experienced pilot on our drones in three days,” Wild Hornets spokesperson Alex Roslin told News themezone. “But that doesn’t mean that a Ukrainian or American drone pilot can come and shoot down Shahed drones in three days. It’s about teaming up and creating an integrated air defense network, and how to work with tactical radar units and other equipment.”

Experts stress that transferring this experience to drone defense, in particular, is more difficult than other aspects of warfare.

“The principle of drone attacks is that they force you to defend everywhere all the time. You need light mobile defenses, you need radars, you need very different types of maneuverable defenses against cheap drones,” Tollast said.

Still, Ukrainian drone makers remain willing to help America’s allies in the Gulf, as long as they have a clear vision of the long timeline ahead.

“If the Ukrainian government creates a partnership, we are 1,000% prepared to meet those needs,” Roslin said. “But passing on that whole body of knowledge, you can imagine how complex it will be.”