Ukraine has sent 200 military advisers to the Gulf states to help defend against Iranian drones. Ukrainian military experts are adamant - the US has missed the most important lesson from the war in Ukraine, writes Focus.de.
Perhaps no other country has as much experience in defending against air attacks as Ukraine: for years the country has defended itself against the deadly combination of Russian missiles and cheap Iranian drones. In the current war in Iran, this experience could save many lives for the US side and its allies. But it seems they have missed the lessons from Ukraine.
A Ukrainian consultant working in the Gulf region told the London Times: “I don't understand what they've been doing, what they've been watching for the last four years while we were at war.
The best example of this is perhaps the use of Patriot anti-aircraft missiles. The American system is among the most advanced in the world, but it is also very expensive: each shot costs several million dollars. In the fight against the mass-produced Iranian Shahed drones, that cost is quickly becoming a problem.
Ukraine has learned from this and has found ways to intercept drones cheaply, but the United States seems to have missed the point. "They are shooting indiscriminately," a Ukrainian officer reported. "They are using a $6 million missile to shoot down a $70,000 Shahed drone." According to the Times, in the first four days of the war, almost as many Patriot missiles were used as Ukraine had received in four years of war.
The Iranians achieved some notable successes in the first weeks of the war: they damaged a multi-billion dollar American early warning radar with their cheap drones, as well as another radar system worth an estimated $300 million.
The White House seems to see no need to learn from Ukraine's experience. U.S. President Donald Trump told NBC News that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was the last person the U.S. would turn to for help.