Ukraine has capacity to supply 1,000 interceptor drones a day to Gulf states under fire from Iran, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has promised.
In what would be a major development in fending off Iran’s daily attacks using its Shahed-136 kamikaze weapons, boosting stockpiles with cheaper drones instead of using high-end interceptor missiles would be a significant help.
Mr Zelenskyy also disclosed that there were 201 Ukrainian anti-drone military experts in the Middle East to help defend the region against the Shaheds and another 34 are “ready to deploy.”
“These are military experts, experts who know how to help, how to defend against Shahed drones,” he said in an address to the British parliament.
“Our teams are already in the Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and on the way to Kuwait,”
Ukraine is capable of producing around 2,000 interceptor drones per day and can supply half that amount to its allies to help bolster their defences, he stated.
The country has vast experience in shooting down the Iran-designed Shaheds having spent the last three years defending its capital Kyiv from deadly Russian attacks.
One of its leading weapons is the Sting interceptor, priced at $2,100, that is among several that have been successfully developed and have destroyed more than 3,000 Russian Geran drones in the last year alone.
By comparison the Patriot PAC-3 interceptor costs an estimated $3.5 million and globally as limited stockpiles.
Built with a 3D printed bullet-shaped quadcopter projectile, the Sting achieves speeds of 340kmh with the ability to cruise at 3,000m. It uses thermal imaging to pick up Shahed drones, diving down on them with its 1.8kg warhead at ranges up to 25km.
It is part of Ukraine’s range of drone interceptors that have shot down 70 per cent of the Shahed-type weapons fired at its cities.
Earlier Mr Zelenskyy met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte thanking them for their support during a “difficult winter” for his country, during which Russia had targeted critical energy infrastructure amid freezing conditions.
“I think it’s really important that we are clear that the focus must remain on Ukraine,” Mr Starmer said after the Downing Street event.
“There’s obviously a conflict in Iran going on, in the Middle East, but we can’t lose focus on what’s going on in Ukraine and the need for our support.”
Mr Zelenskyy also met King Charles III at Buckingham Palace during which the president was invited to take tea with him in his private study during the 25-minute meeting.
Current conflicts will now see a “boom in short range air defence against drones”, said Robert Tollast, of the Rusi think tank. “We're about to enter a period of massive investment globally although it has taken a tremendously long time for Europe to wake up to this threat.”
He added that a “counter drone ground architecture” similar to Ukraine’s was required in which sensors, tactical radars and mobile gun-lorry teams are co-ordinated in defence. “There's a lot of work to be done,” he added.
