Zelenskyy and Trump Reportedly Discussing Weapons ‘Mega Deal’
A recent report highlights Ukraine’s role in helping the United States improve its drone warfare capabilities. Despite President Donald Trump’s executive order aiming for “American Drone Dominance,” the U.S.currently lags behind Russia and China in drone manufacturing, soldier training, and defense against drones. Ukrainian President volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed a “mega deal” where Ukraine would share its extensive combat drone experience gained over the past three years, sell drones to the U.S., and in return purchase American weapons to continue its defense against Russian attacks. Ukrainian military leaders emphasize that their expertise, earned at grate cost, coudl help Western nations enhance their drone warfare readiness. Simultaneously occurring,U.S. military officials acknowledge shortcomings in current drone technology and bureaucratic obstacles hindering innovation.With most commercial drones made by the Chinese company DJI-unusable by the U.S. military for security reasons-there is growing investment in domestic drone production, tho current equipment still falls short. Ukraine’s ongoing battlefield experience provides valuable, real-time insights into effective drone use that the U.S. and allies seek to adopt.
Ukraine thinks it can help the United States go from worst to first in the emerging battlefield of the 21st Century, according to a new report.
Weeks after President Donald Trump issued an executive order calling for “American Drone Dominance,” and as The New York Times reported that America “lags behind Russia and China in manufacturing drones, training soldiers to use them and defending against them,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the New York Post that he has a “mega deal” for Trump.
The deal works this way: Ukraine, which has used drone warfare to blunt Russia’s numerical superiority and stage attacks deep into Russian territory, would teach American soldiers everything that was learned in the past three years, sell its drones to the U.S., and then buy American weapons it needs to take its fight to Russia and protect cities rocked by Russian missile attacks.
“The people of America need this technology, and you need to have it in your arsenal,” Zelenskyy said.
“I think this is really a mega deal, a win-win, as they say,” he continued.
“We will be ready to this experience with America and other European partners,” he said, noting that Ukraine is talking with Denmark, Norway and Germany, as well.
A top Ukrainian commander on Wednesday urged the West to learn from Ukraine to avoid “hard questions from your children [about] when [their] father will come back.”
“We paid with lives to get this expertise,” Maj. Robert Brovdi, who commands the Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine, said at a conference in Germany, according to CNN. “But you can get this expertise out of us, and we will support you the same way you’ve supported us during this war.”
A recent report noted that the U.S. lags in making drones and making effective use of them as weapons.
“We all know the same thing. We aren’t giving the American war fighter what they need to survive warfare today,” said Trent Emeneker, project manager of the Autonomy Portfolio at the military’s Defense Innovation Unit, according to The New York Times. “If we had to go to war tomorrow, do we have what we need? No. What we are trying to do is fix that.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently said that bureaucracy has stifled innovation.
“While our adversaries have produced millions of cheap drones, we were mired in bureaucratic red tape,” he explained.
Currently, DJI, a Chinese company, makes about 70 percent of the drones sold commercially. The U.S. military cannot buy those due to security issues. That has sparked investment in domestic companies that make drones.
But so far, no one makes them good enough to win.
Lt. Col. Scott Smith, director for the nonlethal effects section of the 11th Airborne Division, said a recent exercise showed that while fledgling U.S. drone makers have high hopes, “Their equipment just doesn’t have the desired effect against the latest technology.”
Chris Bonzagni, a drone industry consultant with Contact Front Technologies, said Ukraine’s skills have been honed by the nation’s fight for survival.
“In Ukraine, the companies delivering tech to the war fighters are with them all the time, observing firsthand what is working and what is not,” he said.
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