Can Ukraine’s drone experts counter Iran and help vulnerable Gulf states?

Ukraine has deployed more than 200 military experts to the Gulf and the wider Middle  East to assist allied nations in defending against Iranian drone attacks. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that anti-drone specialists were stationed in  countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, with others heading to Kuwait and a US base in Jordan. More experts are standing ready to deploy  to the region. These teams consist of dozens of personnel tasked with conducting  expert assessments and demonstrating how effective drone defence systems should operate.

The primary threat these nations face comes from Iranian-designed Shahed "kamikaze" drones, which have been extensively used by Russia in its ongoing war against Ukraine and are now being used by Iran to target US military bases, embassies and critical infrastructure across the Middle East. These unmanned aerial vehicles are highly cost-effective, typically priced between $20,000 and $50,000 each, making them a cheap way to inflict widespread damage and psychological distress. Defending against these  drones using traditional methods has proven to be economically unsustainable for Western and Gulf allies. Regional forces have frequently relied on advanced American  Patriot air-defence systems. However, each Patriot interceptor missile costs between $3.5 million and $4 million, an exorbitant price tag for destroying a low-cost drone.

Ukraine offers a highly effective and economically viable alternative, having gained  experience over four years of fending off thousands of Russian drone strikes. Ukraine has developed high-speed "hit-to-kill" interceptor drones that fly directly into incoming targets. These small interceptors cost less than $10,000 to stop a single drone, presenting a paradigm shift in asymmetric warfare. Ukraine has also implemented mobile fire teams equipped with machine guns on pickup trucks to shoot down drones, demonstrating how low-cost tactics can easily neutralise aerial threats. Kyiv has achieved remarkable success, intercepting nearly 90 per cent of the drones launched by Russia. The country produces about 2,000 interceptors a day, of which at least 50 per cent are available for export. Ukraine has even developed several software programs, and now uses iPads to track strikes in real-time, offering field commanders data-driven insights.

Zelensky has made it clear that Ukraine's assistance to Gulf and Western allies is contingent upon receiving funding, technology and conventional air-defence missiles, particularly Patriot systems, in return. The geopolitical dynamics surrounding this exchange are complex. While the US stopped providing military assistance to Ukraine under President Donald Trump, officials claim Washington and over a dozen other countries actively requested Kyiv's help. Trump himself gave contradictory signals, stating the US did not need Ukraine's help with drone defence, yet also noting he would accept assistance from any willing country. Through these deployments, Ukraine hopes to win new allies in the Gulf, secure funding for its defence industry and prove its fundamental value to Western security.

Russia's involvement in the Middle East further complicates the situation. Russia has been helping Iran target US assets in the Gulf, and the resulting disruption to oil markets has provided a massive financial windfall for Moscow. With energy prices going up drastically, the Trump administration has temporarily lifted restrictions on Russian crude. It has helped Moscow amass billions in extra revenue. Zelensky points out that Russia and Iran are "brothers in weapons”. Countering Iran's capabilities in the Gulf is viewed by Kyiv as a direct extension of its own fight for survival. Ukraine believes demonstrating its advanced anti-drone tactics will compel allies to maintain their support for Kyiv.

Iran's envoy to Ukraine, Shahriar Amouzegar, mocked Kyiv's assistance to Gulf nations, characterising the anti-drone support as "nothing more than a joke and a showy gesture" designed to extract Western resources. Asserting that Tehran possesses new technologies to neutralise these efforts, Amouzegar said Iran was "absolutely not afraid" of Ukraine's actions. He warned that Ukraine has entered direct confrontation, while Iranian lawmaker Ibrahim Azizi escalated the rhetoric, declaring Ukraine's entire territory is now a "legitimate target" for Iranian strikes.