Trump discussing drone ‘mega deal’ with Ukraine — as US tech lags behind adversaries
By Caitlin Doornbos and Ronny Reyes
KYIV, Ukraine — President Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky are considering a “mega deal” that would see the US buy battlefield-tested Ukrainian drones in exchange for Kyiv agreeing to buy a swath of weapons from America.
Speaking exclusively with The Post on Wednesday, Zelensky revealed that his latest talks with Trump focused on a breakthrough deal that would see the US and Ukraine prop up each other’s aerial technology — with Kyiv offering to share everything it’s learned about modern warfare in the three-year conflict with Russia.
The deal could be transformative for the US military and national security, with officials and drone experts warning that America’s technology lags far behind Russia and China, and American soldiers are ill-equipped to use the UAVs or defend against the types of devices being produced by adversaries.
Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump meeting at the NATO summit in The Hague.
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President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are in talks to secure a drone deal to bolster both nations’ defenses, Kyiv said.
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/AFP via Getty Images
“The people of America need this technology, and you need to have it in your arsenal,” Zelensky told The Post of Ukraine’s latest drones, which have been able to penetrate Russia’s defenses to take out heavy bombers and hit as deep as 800 miles over the border.
“I think this is really a mega deal, a win-win, as they say,” he added.
Drone warfare has become the standout method of battle in the Ukraine war, with Moscow and Kyiv trading hundreds of aerial blows a day using the explosives-carrying UAVs.
Smoke rising from a building fire in Izhevsk, Russia.
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Ukrainian drones have proven to be able to fly hundreds of miles deep into Russia for targeted strikes.
via Storyful
Experts have long warned that many nations are studying the conflict to understand what a modern war would look like — with the potential devastation highlighted by the Kremlin’s ever-escalating drone bombardments on Ukraine.
With Russia now producing its Iranian-inspired suicide drones in-house, Kyiv is ramping up its own production of drones to fight back.
One of the most impressive attacks came last month when 117 Ukrainian drones took out dozens of Russian bombers stationed at four military bases in “Operation Spider Web.”
In May, Ukraine celebrated the first time a marine drone successfully took out a Russian Su-30 fighter jet over the Black Sea.
Zelensky, who touted drones as the key tool that has allowed his country to fight back against the Russian invasion for more than three years, offered everything he’s learned while under fire to help the US and NATO prepare for the new generation of war.
Firefighters battling a fire at a building in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
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Russia’s bombardments on Ukraine have shown the world that drone warfare is the future of battle, experts warn.
ZUMAPRESS.com
“We will be ready to share this experience with America and other European partners,” he said, adding that talks were also underway with Denmark, Norway and Germany.
Experts and officials have sounded the alarm on America’s blind spot when it comes to drone technology and warfare.
“We all know the same thing. We aren’t giving the American war fighter what they need to survive warfare today,” Trent Emeneker, project manager of the Autonomy Portfolio at the military’s Defense Innovation Unit, told the New York Times.
“If we had to go to war tomorrow, do we have what we need? No,” he added.
The issues were made evident in a four-day testing camp held last month in Alaska by the defense department, which saw soldiers and private contractors repeatedly crash and fail to take down prototype drones, The Times reported.
Volodymyr Zelensky speaking to the media.
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Zelensky said Ukraine’s evolving drone technology and battlefield experience can be shared with allied nation’s to prepare them for future conflicts.
AFP via Getty Images
Some of the drones failed to launch altogether, and one of the drones that could fly ended up hitting the wrong target.
The potential “mega deal” also comes as US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued a new order to “cut red tape” on US drone production.
The Pentagon memo highlighted the need for the US to keep pace as military drone production skyrockets around the world.
Ukrainian military recruits training with rifles.
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Ukrainian soldiers have learned under the heat of battle how to fly advance drones and take out enemy UAVs in a modern war, a skill other armies have little experience in.
AP
“We were brought here to rebuild the military and match capabilities to the threats of today,” he said.
“So while our adversaries have produced millions of cheap drones before us, we were mired in bureaucratic red tape, not anymore.”
Hegseth notably made his announcement with a video featuring drones produced by Neros, a California start-up that tested and developed its technology in Ukraine, with the company tapped to provide 6,000 UAVs to Kyiv this year.
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