According to CBS News, the USA and Ukraine have drafted a memorandum outlining the terms of a potential new defence deal between the countries with a particular focus on drones and counter UAS (C-UAS) technology.
“The draft hashed out by the U.S. State Department and Ukrainian Ambassador to the U.S. Olha Stefanishyna is a first step toward a defence agreement that would allow Ukraine to export military technology to the U.S. and to manufacture drones in joint ventures with American companies,” says the report. “Drone collaboration with the U.S., Ukrainian officials told CBS News, would be mutually beneficial, as American financing would help both countries expand their defense production output,” continued the report.
US Secretary for War Pete Hegseth, during a Senate committee hearing, has confirmed that Pentagon officials have travelled to Ukraine to observe battlefield drone operations and counter-drone operations.
If the deal goes ahead and Ukraine gets access to US production industrial assets and artificial intelligence (AI) technology then the prospect of being able to swamp Russian drone attacks with low-cost Ai-based interceptors suddenly becomes a reality.
Ukraine’s defence ministry has set out four objectives for its air defence strategy.
- 100% identification of aerial targets;
- at least 95% interception of enemy aerial targets;
- the use of AI solutions to predict and counter air threats;
- achieving air superiority and transferring the war onto Russian territory.
Ukraine reports it currently intercepts around 90% of enemy drones and about 80% of cruise missiles – access to the US industrial base could should enable Ukraine to meet its 95% target, and quite quickly.
The first steps towards a US/Ukrainian C-UAS strategy have already been taken. Ukraine’s defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has recently met with Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies during which they discussed opportunities for cooperation in the fields of AI, data analysis and the scaling of technological solutions. “Ukraine and Palantir Technologies may jointly develop technological solutions designed to strengthen the security of Ukraine and other countries,” said the ministry in a statement.
Ukrainian C-UAS company General Cherry has a draft deal – which will need to be approved by relevant government departments – with the USA’s Wilcox Industries to produce both first-person view ( FPV) and interceptor drones at Wilcox’s facility in New Hampshire.
A more strategic deal between the two countries could see drone production levels in Ukraine accelerate rapidly from the current four or seven million drones a year to twice this number and also provide Ukraine with more deep strike capabilities to target Russia’s industrial bases.
Just a few days ago, Ukraine and Germany agreed to work on an aligned procurement programme, Brave Germany, for Ukrainian and German start-ups engaged in critical areas of defence technology, such as C-UAS and AI-based technologies, and develop an indigenous European ballistic missile defence capability.
For more information
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/were-excited-to-partner-with-general-cherry-share-7444450617873465345-0DUD/
(Image: Mykhailo Fedorov presents Ukraine’s defence strategy to Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies – Ukrainian defence ministry)