Ukraine is awaiting White House approval for a major drone production agreement proposed by Kyiv last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday, as countries scramble to modernize their air defenses after the Iran war exposed shortcomings.
The proposed U.S.-Ukraine deal would cover various types of drones and air defenses that operate as a single system capable of protecting against swarms of hundreds or even thousands of Iranian-designed Shahed drones and missiles, Zelenskyy said in a message on social media.
“We have not yet had the opportunity to sign this document,” Zelenskyy said.
Russia has fired tens of thousands of Iranian-designed Shahed drones at Ukraine since it invaded its neighbor just over four years ago. It launched more than 800 drones and decoys in its biggest nighttime barrage. Iran has responded to joint U.S.-Israeli strikes by firing the same type of drones at targets in the Middle East.
Ukraine has
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