U.S. deploys Ukrainian counter-drone technology in Middle East, Reuters says
Drone Industry
Over the past few weeks, the U.S. military has deployed Ukrainian counter-drone technology at a key American air base in Saudi Arabia.
As reported by Censor.NET citing Reuters, five informed sources said this.
Details
The deployment of the Ukrainian Sky Map command-and-control platform at Prince Sultan Air Base, which has not been previously reported, is a sign that the Ukrainian military has made rapid advances in drone and counter-drone technologies.
According to the publication, Ukrainian military personnel arrived at the U.S. base in Saudi Arabia in recent weeks to train American troops to operate the Sky Map software, which Ukraine’s military uses to detect drone threats, including Iranian-designed Shahed UAVs.
The Ukrainians also trained U.S. troops to take down UAVs using interceptor drones.
One of the publication’s sources said that Sky Map helps coordinate counter-drone operations.
Merops interceptors, UAVs developed by U.S. company Project Eagle, backed by former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt, were used at Prince Sultan Air Base.
The sources say that U.S. officials encountered some difficulties in the early stages of testing the new counter-drone systems.
Earlier this month, during trials at Prince Sultan Air Base, a Merops interceptor lost control and crashed into a toilet block on the base.
