US ‘Leaning on’ Ukraine for Help With Drone Tech to Use Against Iran as War Rages: Report

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo

Ukraine has become such an authority on drones that the U.S. has turned to the Eastern European nation for help with its own military tech, according to a report.

The two countries inked a deal last week to have Ukraine send its drones to the U.S. for military testing and evaluation, according to NBC News.

“We are so proud that we have a lot of activity to work with for our technologies,” Olga Stefanishyna, the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S., told the outlet Thursday.

The deal shows Ukraine is in a “winning spot,” she added.

The agreement comes as the U.S. is embroiled in the conflict in Iran, which five months on, shows little signs of ending.

President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had a closed-door meeting at the White House this week, where Zelensky reportedly asked Trump to push Elon Musk to allow Ukraine to use Starlink to guide its drones inside Russia.

The conflict has seen the U.S. even drain its stockpile of munitions, The New York Times reported.

Barely eight weeks into the war, which began on Feb. 28, the United States “burned around 1,100 of its long-range stealth cruise missiles built for a war with China, close to the total number remaining in the U.S. stockpile,” according to the outlet’s April report. “The military has fired off more than 1,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles, roughly 10 times the number it currently buys each year.”

Ukraine, meanwhile, has scrappily battled Russia since February 2022, with its drone technology advancing so far that experts have said it’s helped turn the tide of that conflict.

NBC News cited three sources “directly familiar” with the current American discussions about Ukraine who noted there are “active talks” about how the U.S. can “incorporate” more of Ukraine’s technology.

“They’re trying to figure out who to trust in Ukraine,” one of those sources told the network.

The Pentagon announced in May it would spend $1.1 billion to buy 300,000 drones, while Ukraine cranks out about 500,000 drones each month and is expected to ultimately make somewhere between 6 and 7 million, said Travis Metz, the official in charge of the Pentagon’s Drone Dominance Program.

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