Phones ‘ringing off the hook’ for Ukraine defence firms amid war in Middle East

11 countries have sought Kyiv’s know-how on shooting down Iran-made drones: Zelensky

- Andrew E. Kramer and Maria Varenikova

For most of its four-year-long war with Russia, Ukraine has been a recipient of security aid from the United States and European allies. With war now raging in the Middle East, Ukraine’s government is seeking to turn the tables by offering a pivotal technology to intercept the exploding drones menacing the region’s oil facilities and shipping.

In a possible prelude to sales agreements, Ukraine has sent interceptor drones and teams to operate them to three American allies in the Persian Gulf: Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Eleven countries in all, including the US, European nations and Gulf monarchies, have sought Ukraine's assistance or advice on shooting down Iranian-made Shahed drones, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

For years, Ukraine has been fine-tuning defences against such drones, which Russia fires into the country by the thousands each month.

"This phone has been ringing off the hook," said Mr Oleg Rogynskyy, the chief executive officer of Uforce, a conglomerate of Ukrainian defence technology startups that has attracted seed capital valuing it above US$1 billion (S$1.28 billion).

As the US-Israeli war against Iran spreads through the Middle East, interest in the company's drone aircraft and boats is skyrocketing, he said.

Ukraine wants to leverage its defence expertise into political recognition of a security partnership with the US and European countries, and to reap potentially vast profits for its arms industry. While no deals have been announced yet, the market for drone defences for oil fields and tankers could run to many billions of dollars, Ukrainian defence executives say.

Ukraine's counter-drone technology, initially cobbled together from off-the-shelf consumer goods and video game gear, now rivals conventional air defence systems but at a fraction of the cost, military analysts say.