SOON AFTER launching his assault on Iran, Donald Trump snubbed offers of help from Ukraine. “We don’t need their help in drone defence,” Mr Trump told Fox News. “We have the best drones in the world, actually.”
The Gulf states, under attack by Iranian missiles and Shahed drones, took a different view. At their request, Ukraine rapidly sent them 228 advisers with battle-tested experience in drone defence. In late March Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, toured the region and signed ten-year security partnerships with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Ukraine is also working with Jordan and Kuwait.
Even if the current ceasefire holds, the Gulf states know that Iran can threaten them in the future. The agreements are a recognition that Ukrainian expertise in drone warfare, after four years of a war that has involved attacks by up to 1,000 Russian drones in one night, far exceeds anything that American and European arms suppliers can offer. Ukraine’s innovative defence firms have honed the mass production of cheap but effective drone interceptors that cost between $2,000 and $5,000 each. These are now taking out up to 90% of the $50,000 Russian Geran-2 drones (an improved version of the Iranian Shaheds) that are launched in swarms at Ukrainian cities.
The cost differential is critical. The Gulf states have extensive air defences, but it is absurd to shoot down slow-moving Shaheds with Patriot interceptors costing $4m each, or air-launched AIM-9X Sidewinders that cost $500,000. These should be reserved, respectively, for taking out ballistic and cruise missiles, which move too fast for drones to hit. Cheaper air-to-air rockets, such as the $40,000 APKWS, still require keeping costly fighter jets airborne. The Ukrainians, says Tom Waldwyn of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think-tank, have become proficient at matching the shooter to the target. They are helped by the AI-enabled battlefield management system they have developed, known as Delta.
Ukraine is providing more than interceptor drones. It will take time for Gulf states to build the arrays of electro-optical and acoustic sensors needed to thwart large-scale attacks, such as those Ukraine has developed. But the Ukrainians have quickly taught them vital lessons in making sense of the data from detection systems, says Nico Lange, a former chief of staff at the German defence ministry. “What Ukraine brought to the table immediately worked,” he says. For Ukraine, stopping the handful of drones that Iran has been reduced to launching each day would be something “they can do with their eyes shut”.
Mr Zelensky confirmed on April 8th that his country’s electronic warfare systems and interceptors had destroyed Iranian drones, including ones with jet engines, in several countries in the Gulf. Ukraine is also offering its sea drones. Mr Zelensky apparently believes its experience in forcing open a Black Sea corridor for commercial shipping might help in the Strait of Hormuz, should the American-Iranian agreement to reopen it fall through.
Some secrecy still surrounds the deals. The Qatari defence ministry says its agreement “includes collaboration in technological fields, development of joint projects, defence investments and the exchange of expertise in countering missiles and unmanned aerial systems”. Co-production of air-defence systems and partnerships between government-approved Ukrainian defence firms and Gulf counterparts are expected. Ukrainian companies will get a welcome injection of cash and new orders.
Offers of financing have begun to pour in, say industry insiders. The war has sparked “huge interest” in Ukrainian drone interceptors among the Gulf states, says Oleksiy Honcharuk, of Uforce, which recently became Ukraine’s first defence-technology unicorn (startups valued at more than $1bn). “Ukraine is a plan B,” says Mr Honcharuk, “for countries who had America as their plan A.” Such partnerships provide “new cards” for a country told by Mr Trump that it had none, says Ihor Semyvolos, a Ukrainian analyst of the Middle East.
The Ukrainian government sees the deals in long-term geopolitical terms. Mr Zelensky is eager to export “our system of protection, the skills of our warriors, the knowledge that our state possesses”. There will be immediate gains too, Mr Lange reckons, such as Qatar’s transfer of 12 decommissioned Mirage fighter jets and diesel for agricultural and military vehicles.But the political power of showing up in a time of need against a common enemy is more important. What matters most, says Andriy Zagorodnyuk, a former Ukrainian defence minister who chairs the Centre for Defence Studies, a think-tank, is that countries see Ukraine not as a supplicant but as a uniquely valuable security partner.
Ukrainian arms firms will increasingly branch out into exports, says Mr Waldwyn, especially if the war with Russia winds down. They will need to find new customers to maintain scale. But even now, co-production outside Ukraine has benefits. Much of what Ukraine produces relies on parts from China. China withholds some technologies from Ukraine that it happily sells to Russia. But China relies on Gulf Arab countries for half its oil imports. It is likely to sell them anything they want for systems they co-produce with Ukraine.
Europe too is waking up to the potential benefits. In 2025 European and Ukrainian companies signed more than 20 agreements, nearly twice the number in 2024 (see chart). In February four Ukrainian defence manufacturers launched joint ventures with firms from Denmark, Finland and Latvia to develop drone technology. On March 30th the European Commission approved a $1.7bn programme to integrate Ukraine’s defence industry with Europe’s industrial base.
But Europe’s sclerotic defence ministries and traditional arms companies may not be culturally ready for what Ukraine offers. Mr Waldwyn says they still think in terms of 30-year programmes with burdensome regulatory processes. Unlike in Ukraine, there is little connection between those buying the kit and those who will use it. By contrast, Ukrainian firms innovate constantly based on real-time feedback from the front lines. Products that do not work in combat are quickly binned.
That gap was highlighted by Armin Papperger, the boss of Rheinmetall, Germany’s biggest arms maker, in a condescending interview with the Atlantic on March 27th. Mr Papperger likened Ukrainian drone technology to “playing with Lego”, saying it was produced by “housewives” who “have 3D printers in their kitchens”. The backlash was swift. Rheinmetall soon apologised, describing Ukraine’s “innovative strength and fighting spirit” as a “source of inspiration.” Mr Papperger’s remarks may have been a misguided marketing ploy against redoubtable competitors. His own company’s pricey Skyranger anti-drone system, which has been ordered by the German army, is running at least 16 months behind schedule (though the firm says the delay is less than that).
