A Saudi Arabian arms company has signed a deal to buy Ukrainian-made interceptor missiles, the Kyiv Independent has learned, with one source within Ukraine’s defense industry saying that Riyadh and Kyiv are negotiating a separate “huge deal” for arms that could be finalized this week.
Iran’s recent air attacks across neighboring Gulf States amid the U.S. and Israel-led war against Tehran have kicked off a scramble for military equipment to combat ballistic missiles and Shahed attack drones.
While cost-effective against expensive missiles, air defense interceptors like the U.S.-made Patriot cost millions of dollars - making them an unsustainable way to shoot down cheap drones built en masse for tens of thousands of dollars a piece.
Two sources within Ukraine’s defense industry who asked to remain anonymous to discuss non-public negotiations told the Kyiv Independent that major contracts were up for discussion between the governments of Ukraine and Saudi Arabia.
Iran has unleashed swarms of its Shahed drones across its Arab Gulf neighbors following U.S. and Israeli attacks starting at the end of February. Israel's air defense relies heavily on its Iron Dome, while Gulf nations depend on Korean-made Cheongung-II batteries, and most famously, U.S. THAAD and Patriot surface-to-air missiles.
Meanwhile, the Financial Times (FT) reported that countries in the Persian Gulf have expressed interest in Ukrainian interceptor drones and have submitted purchase requests to the Ukrainian company TAF Industries.
Oleksandr Yakovenko, the company’s founder, told FT that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had requested 5,000 drones, Qatar 2,000, while Kuwait has also expressed interest in acquiring the systems.
“They want to understand how to integrate our drones into the broader defense system. Now every country understands that it needs interception systems, because it is not enough to rely only on something like Patriot,” Yakovenko said.
According to him, training operators remains the main challenge for countries seeking to rapidly deploy interception systems, as preparing personnel to operate such drones can take several months.
TAF Drones, now known as TAF Industries, is a Ukrainian defense technology company founded in 2022. Headquartered in Kyiv, the company specializes in the design and production of First-Person View (FPV) drones and other military technologies. TAF Drones initially focused on developing the Kolibri FPV drone, which proved effective in combat during the early stages of the full-scale invasion and received certification from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence.
In February, TAF Industries announced preparations to launch mass production of a new Ukrainian interceptor drone, the OCTOPUS.
The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was developed by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense technical team to counter aerial threats, including Shahed-type attack drones. Production is expected to be performed by several Ukrainian companies, as well as in the United Kingdom. (Kyiv Independent; Financial Times; Photo: OCTOPUS Interceptor Drone © Militarnyi)
