Ukraine, US move toward historic defense deal as Iran war highlights capabilities, and needs

Kyiv – The governments of the US and Ukraine have drafted a memorandum outlining the terms of a potential new defense agreement between the countries, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The draft accelerated by the US State Department and Ukraine's Ambassador to the US Olha Stefanishyna is the first step towards a defense agreement that would allow Ukraine to export military technology to the US and manufacture drones in partnership with American companies.

During the war in Iran, Ukraine has new capitalization built by the country's military and defense contractors over four years of bitter conflict with Russia. Kyiv has sent drone interceptors and pilots to the Middle East to help US allies defend against the same types of Iranian-designed Shahed drones used by Russia. attack Ukrainian cities and towns.

Already, in the past two months, Ukraine has signed defense agreements with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, and Ukrainian officials say more agreements are in the works.

“About 20 countries are currently involved in various stages: 4 agreements have been signed, and the first contracts under these agreements are now being prepared,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Telegram.

Ukrainian officials first raised the idea of ​​cooperating on drones at the White House in August 2025, after President Trump privately praised Operation Spiderweb, a Ukrainian drone strike deep behind Russian lines. The operation saw Ukrainian pilots remotely pilot explosive aircraft – shipped in obscure trucks smuggled into Russia – destroying dozens of Russian warplanes sitting parked on the tarmac all over the country.

Filling gaps in budget and production capacity

Drone cooperation with the US, Ukrainian officials told CBS News, will be mutually beneficial, as US funding will help both countries expand their defense production.

The National Security Council of Ukraine projects a defense production capacity of $55 billion by 2026. To realize that capability, Ukraine will need more foreign financial support as Kyiv currently has a budget to buy about 15 billion weapons this year, according to Yuriy Sak, an adviser to the Ministry of Industry of Ukraine.

Ukraine is also moving ahead with weapons production programs that the US has not prioritized in the past. One Ukrainian manufacturer plans to do just that produce more than 3 million low-cost military drones for the first person by 2026. The US is only building 300,000 by 2025, by comparison.

Ukrainian companies are also developing new ways of electronic warfare and hardware. The technology pioneered by Sine Engineering, a Ukrainian defense company that recently received a multibillion-dollar investment from the US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, allows drones to fly without GPS guidance to avoid intercepting signals.

Several Ukrainian companies have already brought their technology to the US In March, General Cherry, one of the largest manufacturers of unmanned aerial vehicles in Ukraine, signed an agreement to manufacture unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in the US and the American military manufacturer Wilcox Industries.

The Pentagon has also invited Ukrainian companies to participate in its Drone Dominance program, a $1.1 billion program aimed at identifying drones for US military contracts.

But a broader defense deal, which could bring more Ukrainian technology to the US, has faced political hurdles.

From “lack of purchase” to “good news for Ukraine”?

Ukrainian officials told CBS News they felt “no buy-in” on the drone deal from Defense Department officials and the White House, especially since the outbreak of war in Iran. President Trump has publicly dismissed Ukraine's efforts to provide counter-drone technology to the Middle East.

“We don't need their help in protecting the drone,” Mr. Trump told Fox News in early March. “We know more about drones than anyone. We have the best drones in the world, actually.”

Ukraine's wartime needs have brought their own challenges.

Zelenskyy said the government would only loosen broad restrictions on military deployments unless Kyiv is convinced that the intellectual property of Ukrainian companies is protected, and that they can still deliver enough equipment to defend Ukraine amid ongoing Russian aggression.

But a memorandum now reached between Kyiv and Washington on an early drone deal seems to suggest those barriers may be falling.

“In addition to the Middle East and the Gulf, the South Caucasus, and Europe, we will soon introduce this new security cooperation within the framework of Drone Deals with the rest of the world,” Zelenskyy said in his Telegram post this week. “We are preparing good news for Ukraine.”