MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
To Ukraine now, which finds itself in an unexpected position since the war with Iran began. It's no longer just a recipient of military aid. Ukraine is also positioning itself as a provider. Weaknesses in Middle East air defense systems open doors for Ukraine's growing defense technology industry. NPR's Joanna Kakissis reports from Kyiv.
(SOUNDBITE OF DRONE BUZZING)
JOANNA KAKISSIS, BYLINE: This is not the sound of a killer hornet. It's a 9-pound drone made with a 3D printer. It's about as tall as a water bottle.
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KAKISSIS: And it's flying right over my head. It looks like a tiny, little rocket.
ALEX ROSLIN: Yeah. Well, we call it the rocket sometimes, yeah.
KAKISSIS: I'm with Alex Roslin, who works for a Ukrainian defense company called Wild Hornets, which makes this drone, officially known as the Sting.
How many Stings would you say you produce maybe every month?
ROSLIN: Yeah, over 10,000. We've scaled that dramatically since last fall.
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KAKISSIS: We are in a training field for Stings somewhere in Ukraine. The company asked us not to reveal the location for security reasons. The Stings were developed to take down much larger Iranian-designed Shahed drones, which Russia launches at Ukrainian cities every night.
ROSLIN: A Shahed is maybe as big as your car. So, you know, it's quite amazing that this tiny, little drone is able to take those down. This is a drone that costs as little as $1,300, and it's taking down Shaheds that cost in the range of $50,000.
KAKISSIS: Iranian forces used Shahed drones to attack U.S. bases in the Middle East in retaliation for the U.S.-Israel war on Iran. The U.S. used multimillion-dollar missiles to shoot down these Shaheds. The White House declined a drone deal with Kyiv last year, but it did accept Ukraine's offer of help after the Iran war. Countries in the Middle East also called Ukraine.
MAKSYM SAVANEVSKY: You know, before Iran war started, we do not have calls outside of Ukraine.
KAKISSIS: Maksym Savanevsky is with The Fourth Law, another Ukrainian defense company that makes cheap, reliable interceptor drones.
SAVANEVSKY: There's very strong demand for interceptors in general because everyone sees the same problem. Using expensive air defense missiles against relatively cheap attack drones is not sustainable at scale.
KAKISSIS: The Fourth Law's interceptor is called Zerov-8. It uses artificial intelligence to detect targets faster.
SAVANEVSKY: We trained the system to see targets at a distance two to three times greater than humans. This gives us precious time and distance to intercept Shaheds, for example.
KAKISSIS: The drone companies NPR spoke to said they make their products to sell to the Ukrainian army. They said they referred all calls from foreign countries and companies to the Ukrainian government, which regulates the export of weapons. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy seized the moment. Last month he deployed more than 200 drone experts at the request of Gulf nations. He also traveled to the Middle East.
(APPLAUSE)
KAKISSIS: He signed defense agreements with several countries there and talked up the deals in a video address to Ukrainians.
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PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY: (Speaking Ukrainian).
KAKISSIS: "This is not just about respect for Ukraine," Zelensky said. "This is something concrete. We will export our defense system, the skills of our soldiers and the knowledge we have acquired." Ukraine began producing its own arms after delays in foreign military aid. Then last year, the Trump administration stopped sending weapons directly to Ukraine. But the idea of Ukraine exporting cutting-edge weapons was unthinkable four years ago, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
ANDRII HRYTSENIUK: Just for comparison, in 2022, we had just seven companies who produce UAVs, flying drones. Right now, this is more than 500
KAKISSIS: Andrii Hrytseniuk is CEO of Brave1, the Ukrainian government's defense tech platform. He counts at least 2,500 Ukrainian companies working in defense tech, now the fastest-growing sector in the Ukrainian economy.
(SOUNDBITE OF DRONE BUZZING)
KAKISSIS: Back at the training field, Ukrainian soldiers are learning to fly the Sting interceptor drone. Alex Roslin of the Wild Hornet says the Sting is constantly updated to adapt to changing Russian tactics. Russian forces hunt down Ukrainian drone pilots near the front line.
ROSLIN: The newest thing that we developed is a way to remotely control the drone so that the pilot can sit somewhere, you know, in their apartment or a hotel hundreds of kilometers away.
KAKISSIS: And the company said last week that a drone operator in another country had done just that. From 1,200 miles away, the pilot flew a sting Interceptor drone over northern Ukraine.
Joanna Kakissis, NPR News, Kyiv.
(SOUNDBITE OF DANNY BLACK'S "THE BEEKEEPER") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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