Ukraine offered US Shahed drone defense seven months ago, proposal rejected — Axios
Ukraine offered US defense against Shahed drones seven months ago (photo: Getty Images)
Nearly seven months ago, Ukraine tried to sell the United States its battle-tested technology for shooting down strike drones. At that time, the Donald Trump administration rejected the proposal, but it has now changed its approach, Axios reports.
The publication writes that Ukrainian officials prepared a PowerPoint presentation showing how this could protect American troops and their allies in the Middle East.
The US presidential administration rejected a proposal from Ukrainians at the time, but last week was forced to change course due to a larger-than-expected number of drone strikes from Iran.
Cost of miscalculation
According to two US officials cited by Axios, ignoring Ukraine's proposal is considered one of the biggest tactical miscalculations of the administration since the start of the bombing of Iran on February 28.
Low-cost Iranian drones caused the deaths of seven US servicemen, and intercepting them cost the United States and its allies in the region millions of dollars.
"If there's a tactical error or a mistake we made leading up to this (war in Iran - ed.)," one US official admitted.
What Ukrainians offered
Ukraine has the most experience fighting Shahed-type drones, which Russia purchased in thousands and modified for its own operations as Geran drones.
Ukrainian engineers developed low-cost interceptors to destroy these drones, as well as additional sensors and air defense systems.
At a closed meeting in White House on August 18, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered Trump Ukrainian interceptor drones to strengthen the security of the United States and its allies.
Presentation included a map of the Middle East and a warning: "Iran is improving its Shahed one-way-attack drone design."
Ukrainians proposed the creation of "drone combat hubs" in Türkiye, Jordan, and Gulf countries.
Reaction of the Trump administration
As US officials noted, Trump's team then took no concrete action. Some in administration considered Zelenskyy's presentation an example of excessive self-promotion.
"We figured it was Zelenskyy being Zelenskyy. Somebody decided not to buy it," the official said.
As a result, last week the United States officially turned to Zelenskyy for help in the fight against drones.
Ukrainian drones as a business partnership
Iranian Shahed drones cost between $20,000 and $50,000, while Ukrainian interceptors are even cheaper.
Knowing Trump's mentality of The Art of the Deal, Ukrainians structured a proposal on drone defense as a business partnership, promising to help create manufacturing jobs in the United States.
In exchange for giving the United States access to the production and know-how of drones and 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 US to invest the other 50% and have a share of the production," a Ukrainian official said.
US officials acknowledge that early use of Ukrainian technologies could have reduced losses and costs for the United States in the region.
Defense against Shaheds in the Middle East
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine sent interceptor drones and a team of experts to Jordan to protect US bases.
Ukraine quickly responded to Washington's request, sending assistance the next day after the request was received on March 5.
Recently, it became known that Kyiv shared expertise with Gulf countries to counter Iranian drones.
At the same time, Ukraine is negotiating access to interceptor missiles for air defense.
