Ihor Fedirko, CEO of the Ukrainian Council of Defence Industry, an organisation representing the country’s armaments sector, is happy just to be alive.
“We are all alive, so it’s okay”, he told Euractiv, responding to questions about how he’s doing. It was a disarmingly simple answer, and yet it was representative of the atmosphere in Ukraine’s defence industry. Production lines run amid air-raid sirens, and engineers redesign systems that are used mere hours later.
It is amidst this reality that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s President last week announced a series of defence agreements with Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. He presented them not as conventional arms deals but as the export of full-spectrum capabilities under a so-called “drone deal” that’s officially transformed Ukraine into a global arms exporter.
The announcement marks a turning point. Ukraine is no longer just a recipient of Western military aid. It’s becoming a provider of war-tested expertise to other countries facing similar threats.
For Gulf countries recently hit by Iranian drones and missiles, the appeal is immediate. For Europe, the implications, as seen from Brussels and beyond, are more complex.
The Gulf states: an urgent matter
At first glance, the deals appear to centre on drones, especially interceptor systems designed to stop Iranian threats. But Fedirko insists that reading misses the point.
“We told them… the interceptor is just one piece of this picture”, the CEO said, describing talks with Gulf partners.
What Kyiv is exporting is not a product per se but an ecosystem. Years of countering Shahed-type drones – and increasingly sophisticated Russian variants – forced Ukraine to constantly adapt its air defence. John Hardy, deputy director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD)’s Russia program, noted that Russian air threats evolved, becoming harder to jam and deploy at scale, pushing Kyiv to respond just as quickly.
The result is a layered network combining sensors, software, interceptor drones and mobile fire units. It is less a single shield and more of a constantly adjusting web.
It is also cheaper. Ukraine learned early that using expensive missiles against low-cost drones is unsustainable. Gulf states facing similar threats are now looking for the same answer: wider coverage at a lower cost.
However, direct replication is difficult. Ukraine’s large territory allows threats to be tracked over a distance, while smaller Gulf states operate in tighter airspace, Hardy noted. Systems, therefore, require adaptation, not duplication.
That is why the agreements go beyond hardware. They oversee training, the integration of these new systems into the country’s military combat guidelines, and co-production. In many Gulf markets, localisation laws require significant domestic manufacturing, meaning Ukrainian firms must build locally rather than merely export finished systems.
Europe: watching closely, moving slowly
While Gulf states move quickly, Europe’s response is more cautious.
Ukraine’s progress in drones, electronic warfare and rapid manufacturing has become increasingly relevant as the EU seeks to build its drone arsenal and expand defence production.
But Fedirko argues Europe still faces a structural gap. “They still don’t adapt their drones into their military doctrines,” the CEO said.
The criticism goes beyond drones. Ukraine’s wartime systems rely on tight links between battlefield units, engineers and manufacturers, allowing rapid redesign and deployment. Europe, by contrast, remains bound by slower procurement cycles and fragmented national systems.
“Your weakness is around your velocity,” he added.
Still, Europe offers what Gulf states cannot: scale. Financing, industrial depth and long-term demand make the continent a crucial future market for Ukrainian firms, particularly through joint production.
A new defence exporter
Zelenskyy’s Gulf announcement reflects a wider shift. In just a few years, Ukraine has moved from defence dependency to being a competitive defence supplier.
More than 80 co-production agreements have already been signed worldwide, according to the Ukrainian Council of Defence Industry.
What partners in the Gulf, and increasingly in Europe, are buying is not just equipment. It’s experience under literal fire, compressed into systems that work and are adaptable to partners.
And in a world where threats evolve faster than the technologies to stop them, that may be Ukraine’s most valuable export.
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Source:
www.euractiv.com