US Deploys AI-Powered Anti-Drone System to Middle East After Ukraine Success

US to send anti-drone system to the Mideast after successful use in Ukraine, officials say

LONDON (AP) -- An American anti-drone system proven to work against Russian drones in Ukraine will soon be sent to the Middle East to bolster U.S. defenses against Iranian drones, two U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Friday. While the U.S. has used Patriot and THAAD missile systems to take down Iranian missiles successfully, there are limited effective anti-drone defenses now in the Middle East, according to a U.S. defense official, one of two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters. The U.S. response to countering Iran's Shahed drones has been "disappointing," the other U.S. official said, particularly because the drones fired by Iran are a much more basic version of the same drone that Russia is continuously refining and updating in its war in Ukraine. The effort to bolster U.S. anti-drone capabilities in the Middle East underscores concerns about the planning for an Iranian retaliatory response across the region to the American and Israeli strikes. Persian Gulf countries have complained they were not given adequate time to prepare for the torrent of Iranian drones and missiles bombarding their territory. The system that is being sent, known as Merops, flies drones against drones. It is small enough to fit in the back of a midsize pickup truck, can identify drones and close in on them, using artificial intelligence to navigate when satellite and electronic communications are jammed. Drones are hard to pinpoint on radar systems calibrated for spotting high-speed missiles and can be mistaken for birds or planes. The Merops system is designed to spot them and take them down. Crucially, the system also is cheaper than firing a missile that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars at a drone that costs less than $50,000. The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, said this week that "we're pretty good at taking missiles down. What is much more problematic for us is the huge inventory of Iranian drones, which are hard to detect and hard to take down." Himes said the drone attacks present a "math problem" in that the U.S. cannot keep relying on expensive military interceptors, like Patriot systems, to down the quickly and cheaply made Iranian drones. "It's really, really expensive to take down a cheap drone," he said. "A giant missile going after a tiny little crappy drone." Merops was deployed in NATO nations Poland and Romania in November after Russian attack drones repeatedly entered NATO airspace. The U.S. defense official says America has learned lessons from the deployment of the system and others like it in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that the U.S. asked for his country's help in combating Iran's Shahed drones, which Russia has used in huge numbers in Ukraine. Zelenskyy did not specify the type of assistance Ukraine would provide, but the U.S. defense official said the Merops system is a part of it. When asked about Zelenskyy's comments, Trump told Reuters on Thursday: "Certainly, I'll take, you know, any assistance from any country." In the Middle East, Merops will be deployed to various locations, including where U.S. forces are not present, the defense official said. Most of the systems will be sent directly by Perennial Autonomy -- the manufacturer backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt -- and will not affect defenses in Europe, the official said. Perennial Autonomy did not immediately respond to questions about the use of Merops in the Middle East. Pentagon officials conceded this week in closed-door briefings with lawmakers they are struggling to stop waves of drones launched by Iran, leaving some U.S. targets in the Gulf region vulnerable. "This does not mean we can stop everything, but we ensured that the maximum possible defense and maximum possible force protection was set up before we went on offense," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters this week. Michael Robbins, president and CEO of AUVSI, a drone industry group, said lessons from the Middle East and Ukraine show that the U.S. must accelerate deployment of sophisticated counter-drone technologies, so "our forces can defend bases and populations without spending a million dollars to stop a $50,000 threat." ___ Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Didi Tang, David Klepper, Michelle L. Price, Ben Finley and Seung Min Kim contributed to this report from Washington.

The U.S. is sending an AI-powered anti-drone system to the Mideast as response to countering Iran's Shahed has been 'disappointing' | Fortune

An American anti-drone system proven to work against Russian drones in Ukraine will soon be sent to the Middle East to bolster U.S. defenses against Iranian drones, two U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Friday. While the U.S. has used Patriot and THAAD missile systems to take down Iranian missiles successfully, there are limited effective anti-drone defenses now in the Middle East, according to a U.S. defense official, one of two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters. The U.S. response to countering Iran's Shahed drones has been "disappointing," the other U.S. official said, particularly because the drones fired by Iran are a much more basic version of the same drone that Russia is continuously refining and updating in its war in Ukraine. The effort to bolster U.S. anti-drone capabilities in the Middle East underscores concerns about the planning for an Iranian retaliatory response across the region to the American and Israeli strikes. Persian Gulf countries have complained they were not given adequate time to prepare for the torrent of Iranian drones and missiles bombarding their territory. The system that is being sent, known as Merops, flies drones against drones. It is small enough to fit in the back of a midsize pickup truck, can identify drones and close in on them, using artificial intelligence to navigate when satellite and electronic communications are jammed. Drones are hard to pinpoint on radar systems calibrated for spotting high-speed missiles and can be mistaken for birds or planes. The Merops system is designed to spot them and take them down. Crucially, the system also is cheaper than firing a missile that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars at a drone that costs less than $50,000. The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, said this week that "we're pretty good at taking missiles down. What is much more problematic for us is the huge inventory of Iranian drones, which are hard to detect and hard to take down." Himes said the drone attacks present a "math problem" in that the U.S. cannot keep relying on expensive military interceptors, like Patriot systems, to down the quickly and cheaply made Iranian drones. "It's really, really expensive to take down a cheap drone," he said. "A giant missile going after a tiny little crappy drone." Merops was deployed in NATO nations Poland and Romania in November after Russian attack drones repeatedly entered NATO airspace. The U.S. defense official says America has learned lessons from the deployment of the system and others like it in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that the U.S. asked for his country's help in combating Iran's Shahed drones, which Russia has used in huge numbers in Ukraine. Zelenskyy did not specify the type of assistance Ukraine would provide, but the U.S. defense official said the Merops system is a part of it. When asked about Zelenskyy's comments, Trump told Reuters on Thursday: "Certainly, I'll take, you know, any assistance from any country." In the Middle East, Merops will be deployed to various locations, including where U.S. forces are not present, the defense official said. Most of the systems will be sent directly by Perennial Autonomy -- the manufacturer backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt -- and will not affect defenses in Europe, the official said. Perennial Autonomy did not immediately respond to questions about the use of Merops in the Middle East. Pentagon officials conceded this week in closed-door briefings with lawmakers they are struggling to stop waves of drones launched by Iran, leaving some U.S. targets in the Gulf region vulnerable. "This does not mean we can stop everything, but we ensured that the maximum possible defense and maximum possible force protection was set up before we went on offense," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters this week. Michael Robbins, president and CEO of AUVSI, a drone industry group, said lessons from the Middle East and Ukraine show that the U.S. must accelerate deployment of sophisticated counter-drone technologies, so "our forces can defend bases and populations without spending a million dollars to stop a $50,000 threat."

US to Send Anti-Drone System to the Mideast After Successful Use in Ukraine, Officials Say

LONDON (AP) -- An American anti-drone system proven to work against Russian drones in Ukraine will soon be sent to the Middle East to bolster U.S. defenses against Iranian drones, two U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Friday. While the U.S. has used Patriot and THAAD missile systems to take down Iranian missiles successfully, there are limited effective anti-drone defenses now in the Middle East, according to a U.S. defense official, one of two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters. The U.S. response to countering Iran's Shahed drones has been "disappointing," the other U.S. official said, particularly because the drones fired by Iran are a much more basic version of the same drone that Russia is continuously refining and updating in its war in Ukraine. The effort to bolster U.S. anti-drone capabilities in the Middle East underscores concerns about the planning for an Iranian retaliatory response across the region to the American and Israeli strikes. Persian Gulf countries have complained they were not given adequate time to prepare for the torrent of Iranian drones and missiles bombarding their territory. The system that is being sent, known as Merops, flies drones against drones. It is small enough to fit in the back of a midsize pickup truck, can identify drones and close in on them, using artificial intelligence to navigate when satellite and electronic communications are jammed. Drones are hard to pinpoint on radar systems calibrated for spotting high-speed missiles and can be mistaken for birds or planes. The Merops system is designed to spot them and take them down. Crucially, the system also is cheaper than firing a missile that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars at a drone that costs less than $50,000. The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut, said this week that "we're pretty good at taking missiles down. What is much more problematic for us is the huge inventory of Iranian drones, which are hard to detect and hard to take down." Himes said the drone attacks present a "math problem" in that the U.S. cannot keep relying on expensive military interceptors, like Patriot systems, to down the quickly and cheaply made Iranian drones. "It's really, really expensive to take down a cheap drone," he said. "A giant missile going after a tiny little crappy drone." Merops was deployed in NATO nations Poland and Romania in November after Russian attack drones repeatedly entered NATO airspace. The U.S. defense official says America has learned lessons from the deployment of the system and others like it in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that the U.S. asked for his country's help in combating Iran's Shahed drones, which Russia has used in huge numbers in Ukraine. Zelenskyy did not specify the type of assistance Ukraine would provide, but the U.S. defense official said the Merops system is a part of it. When asked about Zelenskyy's comments, Trump told Reuters on Thursday: "Certainly, I'll take, you know, any assistance from any country." In the Middle East, Merops will be deployed to various locations, including where U.S. forces are not present, the defense official said. Most of the systems will be sent directly by Perennial Autonomy -- the manufacturer backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt -- and will not affect defenses in Europe, the official said. Perennial Autonomy did not immediately respond to questions about the use of Merops in the Middle East. Pentagon officials conceded this week in closed-door briefings with lawmakers they are struggling to stop waves of drones launched by Iran, leaving some U.S. targets in the Gulf region vulnerable. "This does not mean we can stop everything, but we ensured that the maximum possible defense and maximum possible force protection was set up before we went on offense," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters this week. Michael Robbins, president and CEO of AUVSI, a drone industry group, said lessons from the Middle East and Ukraine show that the U.S. must accelerate deployment of sophisticated counter-drone technologies, so "our forces can defend bases and populations without spending a million dollars to stop a $50,000 threat." ___ Associated Press writers Lisa Mascaro, Didi Tang, David Klepper, Michelle L. Price, Ben Finley and Seung Min Kim contributed to this report from Washington.

Kyiv's drone war could help defend US, allies from Iranian threat

STING FPV interceptor drone is displayed at an exhibition of Ukrainian drone makers in an undisclosed location in Ukraine After Iran launched thousands of one-way attack drones at Israel, American bases, and Gulf states this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered to share Kyiv's battlefield experience in stopping them, an offer that could reshape how the US and its allies defend against cheap Iranian drones. "We received a request from the United States for specific support in protection against 'Shahed' in the Middle East region," Zelensky posted on Thursday. "I gave instructions to provide the necessary means and ensure the presence of Ukrainian specialists who can guarantee the required security." The previous day, Zelenskyy said, he had charged Ukraine's foreign minister and other defense officials with assisting countries under attack "in a way that does not weaken [Ukraine's] own defense." "Our military possesses the necessary capabilities. Ukrainian experts will operate on-site, and teams are already coordinating these efforts," he wrote on X/Twitter. Furthermore, on Thursday, the Financial Times reported that the United States and at least one Gulf country are in talks to purchase Ukrainian interceptor drones, quoting Ukrainian "industry figures." According to the report, the Ukrainian-built defensive drones' low cost and high effectiveness provide a cheaper alternative to traditional defense systems. US, allies struggle to down Iranian drones Since the joint US-Israel attack on Iran (Operation Roaring Lion/Epic Fury) on February 28, the Islamic Republic has targeted almost a dozen countries across the Middle East using its Shahed UASs, causing damage to military and civilian facilities. According to estimates from Tel Aviv University's Israeli Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), during the first four days of the war, Iran launched over 2,000 UASs at Israel, Gulf nations, and US military bases. Six US military personnel were killed at a military base in Kuwait in the opening hours of the war when a Shahed slammed into their installation. Gulf states such as Qatar, the UAE, and Bahrain, which have all been targeted by the HESA (Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Company) Shahed systems in recent days, generally use MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air (SAM) missiles to counter this threat. While effective, Patriot batteries cost billions of dollars to deploy, and each interceptor missile can cost several million. As Iran's stockpile of UASs is estimated to be in the tens of thousands, Patriot interceptions aren't an optimal long-term solution. Nevertheless, Ukrainian interceptors would take time before they could be operational in the Middle East, as they would need to be integrated with the radar systems in the region. Troops would also need to be trained in their use. Ukraine finds cheap, effective ways to intercept drones Ukrainian air defenses, largely inherited from the Soviet era, often struggled to detect low-flying UASs. To counter this, the Ukrainian Armed Forces has been finding new solutions for countering hostile aerial threats. Reserving costly SAM systems, such as Norway's NASAMS and Germany's IRIS-T for high-value targets, the UAF has deployed everything from truck-mounted machine guns to GPS spoofing against drones. Most notable are their purpose-built interceptor UAVs, taking the fight to enemy UASs in direct drone-vs-drone engagements. The Ukrainian drone interceptors are largely First-Person-View (FPV) drones, which fly faster than Shahed UAS and use cameras and AI to detect hostile UAS before crashing into them. Built by Ukrainian defense technology company SkyFall and unveiled in November 2025, the drone interceptor P1-Sun successfully downed a Shahed UAS in January. Costing approximately $1,000 and partially 3D-printed, the product is one of the possible options that Ukraine could sell to the US and allies, Ukrainian online media outlet dev.ua reported. Since their introduction on the battlefield, interceptors such as P1-Sun have quickly taken a main role in countering the Russian UAS threat. According to a statement on Tuesday by UAF Commander-In-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky, defensive drones such as the P1-Sun account for around 70 percent of Shahed interceptions in the Kyiv region - having destroyed over 1,500 UASs last month. Additionally, in October 2025, Zelensky claimed that interceptor drones had a 68% success rate in the air, a number he said would increase with more funding. Since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia is estimated to have utilized tens of thousands of Shahed 136 UASs, and last month, Ukraine's Air Force announced that it had downed a total of 44,700 since February 2022. What is the Shahed? While Iranian aerospace company Shahed Aviation Industries boasts a lineup of nearly two dozen types of unmanned aircraft, Russia has primarily favored the Shahed-136 model against Ukraine, which it calls the Geran-2. Shahed 136 UASs are one-way drones, which crash into their target and detonate upon impact. Carrying up to a 200-pound (90-kilogram) warhead and traveling at speeds up to 115 mph (185 km/h), it presents a formidable threat, especially when launched in swarms. Russia reportedly began to produce the UAS domestically during the course of the war, at an estimated cost of between $20,000 and $50,000 per unit, and can now build thousands every month.