How Ukraine Can Help the Iran War Effort

Iran is pounding U.S. military positions across the Middle East with missiles and cheap but highly effective drones, killing U.S. troops and wreaking havoc across the Persian Gulf. The cost to the U.S. of its defensive systems far exceeds the cost of Iran’s drones, and America and its regional partners are burning through their air defenses.

Despite these high costs, however, they remain the primary defense against Iranian barrages. Saudi Arabia in particular is heavily reliant on Patriot systems and PAC-3 MSE interceptors, but other U.S. partners in the region, including Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, operated them as well to secure their airspace. 

Here, Kyiv can help. The Pentagon is reportedly now in talks to purchase Ukrainian-made interceptor drones to deter Iranian drone strikes. And Ukraine is uniquely primed to assist the U.S. in the air defense mission.

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has developed a robust and highly innovative interceptor program. Ukraine’s national air defense network is comprised of advanced foreign air defense systems, indigenous interceptor drones, advanced anti-drone technologies, and kinetic equipment like rifles. The Ukrainian military is currently capable of downing one in three incoming Russian missiles and a high percentage of kamikaze drones, including Iranian Shahed and Russian Geran and Gerbera models.  

The Ukrainian defense industry, moreover, is now able to produce over 1,500 anti-Shahed drones per day, and the country deployed roughly 40,000 interceptor drones this January alone. That means the Ukrainian military is now consistently using indigenous drones to intercept Russian ones in its airspace, thereby saving on limited systems like the Patriot. 

Ukrainian interceptor drones, moreover, are a significantly cheaper option than traditional air defense systems, costing between $300 and $1,200, and can be rapidly deployed from anywhere to respond to incoming air targets. They are well-equipped to instantaneously adapt to threats and are tailored to handle short- to medium range targets with rapidity, flexibility, and autonomy.

Ukraine also leads the charge on alternative air defense methods, including radio frequency jammers that disrupt radio communications, GPS spoofers that send false signals to drones, high-power microwave weapons systems that damage the internal electronics of Russian drones, directed-energy lasers that melt propellers and electronics, kinetic equipment like rifles and nets, and cyber operations that hack drone software to take control. 

The U.S. and Gulf governments have increasingly taken notice. Washington and a number of regional capitals are reportedly in contact with Ukraine about purchasing Ukrainian interceptors. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that Ukraine is “open” to the idea, and those talks are now progressing.  

But more needs to be done. Beyond simply purchasing systems, Washington needs to tap into Ukraine’s expertise to train U.S. warfighters in counter-drone methods. Ukrainian soldiers have learned difficult lessons over the past four years of war – lessons that have allowed them to husband resources and save on more expensive air defense systems. They also have unique and intimate knowledge of combating different variants of Iran’s drone systems – something that the U.S. and its allies desperately need now.

In their regional defense plans, the U.S. and its Gulf partners would do well to take a page from Ukraine’s drone playbook. After all, Kyiv is putting its hard-won expertise at Washington’s disposal.

Anna Harvey is a Research Fellow and Program Officer at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, DC. She specializes in Ukrainian and Russian defense planning and military innovation.