Former Ukrainian Defense Minister offers drone technology for Patriot interceptors

Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov says he is ready to help the United States develop unmanned technologies in exchange for Patriot air-defense interceptors for Ukraine.

He made the remarks in an interview with the Financial Times, CE Report quotes Ukrinform.

Fedorov said he would be “very happy to help America build a drone army,” particularly in exchange for Patriot interceptors “so that we [Ukrainians] can get through this winter.”

“I am ready to make this exchange,” he said.

Fedorov plans to establish an investment fund for defense technologies and is currently seeking support for the initiative. According to the former minister, he is in talks with a large number of potential investors interested in Ukrainian innovations.

The fund would go beyond the traditional venture-capital model: it would be able to create companies itself as well as invest in Ukrainian startups. Fedorov said the fund would use Western capital to develop technologies critical to Ukraine’s ability to withstand Russia’s invasion.

He identified three key priorities for the fund: battlefield robotics to reduce reliance on manpower and the number of troops needed on the front line; low-cost, high-speed interceptor drones to counter Russia’s new jet-powered attack drones; and low-cost missiles using artificial intelligence.

According to Fedorov, high-speed interceptor drones capable of shooting down Russian jet-powered drones have already been tested in Ukraine and could be produced on a large scale with sufficient support.

As previously reported, Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara said during a press briefing that Ukraine has developed four types of interceptors designed to shoot down the enemy’s jet-powered Shahed drones, with the priority now being to scale up their production.

Photo courtesy of Mykhailo Fedorov’s press service