July 14, 2026

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Global Demand for Ukraine’s Drone and Counterdrone Expertise and Technology

(AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

The now more than four-year-long Russo-Ukraine War has positioned Kyiv as a critical hub of innovation for drone and counter-drone expertise, know-how, and technology. Since the start of the war in February 2022, Ukraine’s defense industrial base has rapidly innovated, produced, and scaled to address constraints on the battlefield. Many innovative solutions that are now produced on an industrial scale were initially designed by volunteer groups and start-ups aiming to defend Ukraine. The Armed Forces of Ukraine have also innovated in offensive drone warfare and counter-drone defense since Russia’s invasion, gaining deep expertise in both. Just yesterday, Kyiv released footage of a first-of-its kind fully amphibious drone that was used to cross onto Russian territory across the Black Sea and launch an attack. Ukraine’s drone innovation and growing intelligence capabilities have allowed it to make significant strides in its war with Russia, putting the technically superior military on the back foot, allowing it to strike deep within Russian territory. In recent weeks, Ukrainian drones have struck strategic oil refineries throughout major Russian cities, leading to a national fuel crisis, and even causing Russian-controlled Crimea to declare a state of emergency. This is one of the first times during the four-and-a half-year war that average Russian citizens, especially in its capital Moscow, have experienced significant disruptions to their daily lives — placing political pressure on Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Various agreements signed on the sidelines of last week's NATO summit in Ankara attest to the global demand for Ukraine's combat-proven technology and expertise, further spurred on by global geopolitical developments. The Iran War has underscored the need for improved air defenses in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, while Russia’s war in Ukraine and shifting U.S. views on the transatlantic partnership have prompted European states to begin building greater autonomous defense capabilities, albeit it will likely take time to truly develop these capabilities. Ukraine’s war-driven technological innovation and expertise in drones, counter-drone technology, air defense, and other aerial technologies have become globally coveted — as have insights into its operational and doctrinal innovation: Estonia, Denmark, and the Netherlands signed drone cooperation agreements with Ukraine last week, while in March, as Iranian drones targeted critical infrastructure across the GCC, Ukraine’s President Zelensky signed defense-related agreements with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Ukraine’s most disruptive innovation has been the adoption of first-person-view (FPV) drones on the battlefield to strike Russian targets. First retrofitted through the attachment of warheads on commercially available quadcopters by soldiers and volunteer groups, Ukraine has since built out its industrial capabilities and produces roughly 100,000 attack FPV drones every month. By June 2024, electronic countermeasures were increasingly jamming drones, prompting Russia to deploy fiber-optic drones on the battlefield, with Ukraine rapidly catching up and now also deploys fiber-optic drones to circumvent jamming. While Russia continues to benefit from its commercial relationship with the PRC for fiber-optic drone production, Ukraine has significantly scaled production. Another volunteer-led battlefield innovation has been Ukraine’s interceptor drones, which significantly reduces the cost of shooting down Russia’s Shahed drones and has freed up previous Patriot missiles for ballistic interceptions.

Gulf and European states now also aim to learn from Ukraine’s overarching operational and doctrinal innovation on the battlefield to respond to current security threats. Approximately a month after Operation Epic Fury plunged the U.S. and Israel into war with Iran — with Gulf countries coming under attack from Iranian missiles and drones targeting U.S. interests in the region — Kyiv sent more than 200 military specialists and drone experts to the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, signing ten-year military-technical cooperation agreements with all three states. In return, the three Gulf countries agreed to supply Ukraine with oil and diesel as well as missile interceptors.

Having battled Iranian-style drones from Russia, Ukraine is uniquely placed to provide assistance to these countries, which have historically relied on the U.S. for security assurances. For the GCC, the interest is primarily in learning from Ukraine’s layered air defense approach, rather than struggling with the cost asymmetries of shooting Patriot missiles at cheap incoming drones. This layered approach includes the integration of mobile fire groups with interceptor drones that have been mastered by Ukraine after contending with similar cost asymmetries at the start of the full-scale invasion.

Similarly, in Europe — which is currently gearing up for potential conflict on its Eastern flank — much of the defense strategy, including its drone wall, relies on Ukrainian know-how and experience derived from the war. Other Ukrainian operational and doctrinal innovations that appear crucial for both Europe and the GCC include Ukraine’s acoustic detection networks to detect incoming drones and missiles, the execution of decoy ploys at scale, and a unique model of a defense-industrial base that, rather than being slow and bureaucratic, rapidly integrates frontline developments into the new iterations of its product. Beyond the battlefield, Kyiv has been building out a network of defense-industrial partnerships across Europe, such as co-manufacturing arrangements with British, Danish, and German companies, alongside formal cooperation agreements with the German and Norwegian governments. Ukraine has also trained NATO members in both drone operation and defense.

While Ukraine is clearly at the cutting edge of cost-effective offensive and defensive drone technology, Kyiv remains dependent on its partners — especially the United States — for air and missile defense. This has often translated into Ukrainian lobbying for additional supplies of U.S. Patriot interceptor missiles, which are already in scarce supply globally. The shortage has been compounded by the ongoing conflict with Iran, during which the U.S. and Gulf countries have relied heavily on Patriot systems to intercept Iranian attacks. At last week’s NATO Summit, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would grant Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot missiles, something that the U.S. has long resisted; the manufacturing of such defense systems has been a closely guarded secret, additionally, development is incredibly technical and expensive. Production of the Patriot missiles could take years, and the Russian military will certainly target such efforts. While gaining the license was certainly a success for Ukraine in its wartime effort against Russia, it also raises important points about strategic partnerships and innovation.

Ukraine has emerged as a successful and ingenious innovator of military technology, but warfare remains multifaceted — technological drone innovation can only take Ukraine so far. It still must reply on traditional, powerful, and expensive systems to successfully counter Russia. By the same token, countries that already have access to expensive systems must be able to adapt quickly to the changing nature of warfare. The world has certainly come to recognize how much can be learned from cheap, cost-effective innovation. Countries flexible enough to adapt their defense-industrial base, with industries ready to innovate, such as countries on NATO’s Eastern Flank, will be better positioned to adjust to the changing nature of warfare that Ukraine has pioneered. Ukraine’s profile as a military power will only continue to grow as demand for its expertise grows in tandem. As conflict rages on in the Middle East, with no clear end in sight, and NATO prepares itself for future conflicts with Russia, cheap, cost-effective innovation will be one of the most important skills for militaries to learn, and Ukraine is at the forefront.

The Russo-Ukraine War has transformed the character of modern warfare. Ukraine is now a critical node globally to disseminate the technology and expertise it takes to contend with this drone-heavy mode of warfare. Coming at a time when both the GCC countries and the European Union member states are recalibrating their relations to the United States and assessing the limits of their collective defense pacts, Ukraine is set to play an important global role.