US Makes Major Move Amid Middle East Conflict, Deploy's Ukraine's Lethal System in Saudi Arabia

Riyadh: Following damage to US aircraft and facilities caused by Iranian drone and missile attacks in the Middle East, the US military has deployed ‘Sky Map’—a Ukrainian anti-drone command-and-control platform—at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Air Base. This information comes from five sources familiar with the matter.

This deployment had not previously been publicly reported. Sources stated that in recent weeks, Ukrainian military officials arrived at Prince Sultan Air Base to train U.S. troops on the Sky Map system. This platform is utilized to detect incoming drone threats—particularly Iranian-made Shahed drones—and to launch countermeasures using interceptor drones.

Indeed, the Pentagon has accelerated its investment in anti-drone technology in light of the growing threat posed by inexpensive, mass-produced drones. However, analysts believe that the use of Ukrainian technology at this base—located approximately 640 kilometers from Iran—exposes vulnerabilities within the U.S. air and missile defense architecture. Timothy Walton, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, noted that there have long been gaps in U.S. air and missile defense coverage globally. This fact has been well understood, yet it has not received adequate attention.

Did Donald Trump Reject Ukraine’s Offer?

This revelation emerges nearly a month after U.S. President Donald Trump publicly rejected an offer from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to assist in countering Iranian drone attacks. In an interview with Fox News on March 6, Trump stated, "We don't need their help" to defend against drones. The White House and the Pentagon referred inquiries regarding this matter to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM); however, Central Command declined to comment. Sky Fortress—the Ukrainian company that owns Sky Map—and President Zelenskyy’s office also offered no response. It is worth noting that last month, the Pentagon's counter-drone unit announced the allocation of $350 million to bolster drone defenses under ‘Operation Epic Fury.’ Adam Sher, a spokesperson for the unit, stated that there is no single "silver bullet" capable of countering every drone threat.

What is Sky Map?

The question now arises: what exactly is Sky Map? According to sources, Sky Map has emerged as the Ukrainian military's primary command-and-control platform. It detects threats by integrating data received from radars and sensors, and it provides this information via maps and video feeds displayed on a dashboard. The company, Sky Fortress, was founded in 2022 by Ukrainian engineers. They deployed over 10,000 acoustic sensors across Ukraine to counter Russian drone attacks. The company has received funding from ‘Brave1,’ the Ukrainian military's innovation unit.

According to reports, in addition to Sky Map, other new counter-drone technologies have also been deployed at Prince Sultan Air Base; these include the ‘Merops’ interceptor, developed by an American company backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Sources indicated that initial trials of the new systems encountered certain challenges. Earlier this month, during a test, a Merops interceptor lost control and crashed into a restroom block on the base.

How Much Damage to US Assets in Iranian Attacks?

It should be noted that since the outbreak of the conflict, Prince Sultan Air Base has been subjected to multiple waves of attacks involving Shahed drones and missiles. In an attack on March 27, a U.S. Air Force E-3 AWACS radar aircraft was destroyed, while several KC-135 aerial refueling tankers sustained damage. In another attack, the tent housing the radar system for the THAAD missile defense battery was also destroyed. The base has been utilizing Northrop Grumman’s ‘Forward Area Air Defense’ (FAAD) platform and RTX’s ‘Coyote’ interceptor drones for its defense. A Northrop Grumman spokesperson stated that the FAAD system continues to prove itself as reliable on the battlefield. RTX spokesperson Chris Johnson noted that the Coyote interceptor has played an effective role in neutralizing hundreds of aerial threats.