The script is flipping…


U.S. Turns to Ukraine For Drone Technology

BY MICHAEL R. GORDON AND ALISTAIR MACDONALD

The Wall Street Journal
Oct 03, 2025

A Ukrainian team is in Washington this week to craft a landmark agreement with the Trump administration that would involve Kyiv’s sharing its battle-tested drone technology with the U.S. in exchange for royalties or other compensation, according to officials from both countries.\r

The prospective deal, which has the backing of President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, would mark a milestone in the security relationship between Washington and Kyiv.\r

For years, the Ukrainian military has received U.S. weapons. Under the new deal, Ukraine would draw on its experience in producing and using drones to battle the Russian military. A team of Ukrainians, led by the country’s Deputy Defense Minister Sergiy Boyev, began talks with Pentagon and State Department officials on Tuesday. An agreement is likely to take months, a U.S. government official said.\r

While the U.S. companies make some sophisticated drones, the Ukrainians are well ahead in mass producing cheap unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, that have proved effective in battle.\r

“It is just a reality that we need Ukrainian drone tech in the U.S.,” said William McNulty, a partner at UA1, a U.S. venture-capital fund, which has invested in eight Ukrainian

defense companies. In Europe, governments, companies and investors had already reached a similar conclusion.\r

The potential deal, which also has political significance as Kyiv looks to solidify ties with Trump, highlights how much the U.S. industry can benefit from Ukraine, which has pioneered new technologies and tactics, as well as the ability to rapidly incorporate innovations for a changing battlefield. With the Ukraine conflict rewriting how nations fight, governments, investors and companies in Europe have been rushing to capitalize on Ukraine’s drone technology.\r

A U.S. government official said the drone deal is designed to allow U.S. forces to capitalize on Ukraine’s competitive advantage in UAVs. In turn, Kyiv is seeking to pay for highend U.S. weapons. He was referring to the Patriot antimissile system, the Himars launchers that fire GMLRS rockets and Army Tactical Missile Systems, or Atacms, and the Air Force’s multirole fighter.\r

Ukraine’s use of Atacms against targets inside Russia has been subject to Pentagon review, and none has been fired against objectives in Russian territory since Trump took office. Trump officials said they are now weighing Ukraine’s appeal for longrange U.S. weapons and have authorized the provision of intelligence for Kyiv’s own longrange strikes against energy targets in Russia, mainly carried out with drones.\r

The U.S. and Ukraine are exploring several mechanisms for facilitating drone-technology transfer, according to people familiar with the talks. They include deals in which Ukrainian companies provide drone technology and prototypes to U.S. companies in exchange for a royalty or an arrangement in which a Ukrainian company establishes a subsidiary in the U.S. to produce drones. Another possibility is buying the drones directly from Ukraine.\r

Any accord will have to facilitate access to technology and systems from private Ukrainian drone companies. There are more than 300, according to the Ukrainian Council of Gunsmiths, a trade group.\r

The widespread use of Chinese parts is one problem that needs to be managed. U.S. companies that acquire Ukrainian drones and technologies can’t use Chinese components because of the imperative of having secure supply lines.\r

Ukraine turned to drones from the very start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion, to inflict damage on Russia’s larger and better-equipped forces. Since then, the country has pioneered the use of cheap First Person View attack drones, marine drones and artificial intelligence in this sector, among other innovations. Ukraine produced more than two million drones last year.\r

Ukraine can produce drones for 20% to 30% of the cost of Western makers, UA1’s McNulty said. That expertise in mass producing cheap drones is what the West most needs, analysts said.\r

In pursuing the deal, U.S. officials would also reap the benefits of a Ukraine drone industry that Washington has quietly supported for years. After Ukraine’s failed 2023 counteroffensive, then-national-security adviser Jake Sullivan commissioned intelligence analyses that indicated the development of short-range and long-range drones would buttress the Ukrainian military.\r

The Biden administration allocated $1.5 billion in additional support for Ukraine’s UAV and missile programs, including providing key components not produced in the country. Then-President Joe Biden briefed Zelensky about the scope of the effort when they met in September 2024.

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