The U.S. and Ukraine have signed a preliminary agreement that will allow Kyiv to export its drones to the United States for military testing. The deal is the result of months of negotiations over deeper defense-industrial cooperation between both countries, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said Wednesday.
The Pentagon wants access to Ukraine’s innovations using unmanned aerial vehicles, developed during more than four years of war with Russia, as part of its “drone dominance” initiative — a $1 billion program to purchase 200,000 drones by 2027 that can produce lethal effects on the battlefield.
“While the statement of intent is not itself a production contract, it is seen as the first concrete step toward broader cooperation that could eventually include joint manufacturing of Ukrainian-designed combat drones on U.S. soil,” RFE/RL reported.
The deal marks a major shift in Ukraine’s relationship with the West, as it evolves from being purely a recipient of military aid to a respected producer of defense technology.
On Wednesday, Ukraine’s Embassy in Washington hosted the signing of a memorandum of understanding between UFORCE — a Ukrainian company that designs and manufactures a range of autonomous systems such as aerial, ground and maritime drones — and Oregon-based RECONCRAFT, which focuses on high-performance vessels for military, law enforcement and search-and-rescue operations.
“Under the partnership, UFORCE will work with RECONCRAFT to bring its battlefield-tested autonomous defense technologies to the United States and expand cooperation on advanced unmanned aerial, maritime, and ground systems,” the Ukrainian embassy said in a statement.
The U.S. military used autonomous vessels in combat against Iran for the first time on July 12 when U.S. Central Command launched three explosive-laden Corsair surface drones at a submarine and ship maintenance facility at the Bandar Abbas naval base in southern Iran.
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