The American army has installed a Ukrainian command and control system on a base in Saudi Arabia designed to intercept drones, according to information from the Reuters agency published on Wednesday.
According to several sources cited by the agency, this system – called “Sky Map” – has been deployed at the Prince Sultan Air Base near Riyadh, which was heavily hit by Iranian attacks last month.
This system is used by Ukrainian forces in their war against Russia to detect and neutralize drones, particularly Iranian-origin “Shahed” drones.
This technology transfer is accompanied by unprecedented operational cooperation: Ukrainian instructors have recently visited the American base to train the deployed soldiers on how to use the system, drawing on their experience in the field.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed that Ukrainian military specialists had helped intercept Iranian drones in several Middle Eastern countries, amid high regional tensions. According to him, Kyiv has deployed specialized anti-drone teams in at least four states following American and Israeli strikes against Iran, which triggered a wave of retaliatory attacks.
Ukraine, targeted by Iranian-made Shahed drones bought by Russia in Tehran for the past four years, has developed significant expertise in air defense against these devices.
