As Iran’s drones swarm Gulf, Ukraine’s wartime tech lands billion-dollar deals

Fire and plumes of smoke rise after a drone struck a fuel tank near Dubai airport in the UAE on March 16.

Photo: AP Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that his country had “undoubtedly changed the geopolitical situation” in the Middle East with a series of decade-long defence agreements with Gulf states being hit with Iranian drones and missiles.

Has he?

And how important are the agreements for Ukraine, more than four years into the Russian invasion and facing its own maelstrom of military, economic and diplomatic challenges?

The Ukrainian leader has been on a whirlwind tour of the Gulf in recent days – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar – touting what he calls Kyiv’s world-leading air defences.

Ukraine has developed a suite of tools to fend off nightly Russian drone attacks, chief among them cheap and highly effective drone-on-drone interceptors.

Moscow’s attack drones are based on the Iranian Shaheds now being fired by Tehran across the region – strikes it says are retaliation for US-Israeli air attacks on Iran.

Zelensky has sought to craft an opportunity from the war, which otherwise benefits Russia through higher oil prices and possible slowdowns in Western arms supplies to Kyiv.

Almost immediately, he started offering US allies in the region deals to get their hands on Ukrainian drone interceptors and has sent over 200 military experts. “Surely no one else can help in this way today, with expertise,” he told reporters on Saturday. “No one else possesses such experience.” Ukraine has for months been downing more than 80 per cent of all incoming Russian missiles and drones – typically fired in their hundreds every night – according to an analysis of Kyiv’s air force data.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani shake hands during their meeting in Doha on Saturday.

Photo: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/AFP Details of what exactly Ukraine has agreed in the Gulf are slim. “We are talking about a 10-year cooperation.

We have already signed a relevant agreement with Saudi Arabia, we have just signed a similar agreement with Qatar, also for 10 years, we will sign one with the Emirates,” Zelensky said.

On the table are co-production of drones – with factories both in Ukraine and in the Gulf – and expertise sharing, he said, without providing specific information.

It is unclear what Kyiv gets in return, or whether the deals are anything more than simple

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