Ukraine has sent interceptor drones and a team of drone experts to assist in safeguarding U.S. military installations in Jordan amid escalating regional conflict linked to the Iran war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated in a New York Times interview.
According to Zelenskyy, Washington submitted the request on Thursday, and Kyiv responded promptly by sending the drone team the next day.
“We responded right away,” Zelenskyy said. “I replied, yes, absolutely, we will dispatch our specialists.”
The White House has not yet replied to Digital’s request for verification.
This reported request occurs while the U.S. and Gulf nations are working to intercept hundreds of Iranian missiles and thousands of drones fired in response to U.S.-Israeli attacks that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iranian drones have hit the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain, including a strike on a tactical operations center in Kuwait that resulted in the deaths of six U.S. military personnel.
The large number of Iranian Shahed drone launches has highlighted the cost difference between the relatively low-cost unmanned aircraft and the much more advanced air defense systems, like Patriot missiles, employed to shoot them down.
Based on the Department of the Army’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget projections, a single Patriot PAC-3 MSE interceptor costs $3.8 million.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimates that a basic Iranian-designed Shahed drone costs approximately $20,000 to $50,000.
“Iran recognizes it cannot compete with the U.S. or Gulf states on a plane-for-plane or missile-for-missile basis, but it can alter the economic dynamics of the conflict,” stated Patrycja Bazylczyk, associate director of the Missile Defense Project at CSIS, in an interview with Military Times.
“Drones enable Iran to exceed its capabilities, keep opponents unsettled, and exert regional influence at very low cost. We cannot simply engage in a game of whack-a-mole in the skies,” she continued. “Destroying drones individually represents the costliest method of combating the most inexpensive threat. We must target the sources – the launch locations, manufacturing facilities, and storage sites.”