We are talking about the American “drone” complex Merops. In February 2025, The Defense Post wrote that Merops intercepted more than a thousand Shahed-type drones in the skies over Ukraine.
WSJ recalled that last year the United States and its allies deployed several Merops systems in Poland and Romania after Russian drones violated the countries' airspace.
Merops can reach speeds of more than 290 km/h and rise to a height of up to 4.9 thousand meters. It uses artificial intelligence. The drone costs less than $10,000, but one US military official told the WSJ that the price will drop to about $7,000 as production increases.
According to Business Insider, the first Merops systems will arrive in the Middle East within a week. Once they arrive, they will be ready for use within a few days, he said.
WSJ also reported that Qatar and other Gulf countries are interested in Ukraine's combat experience. According to media reports, representatives of countries that are under attack from Tehran visited Ukraine to meet with Ukrainian arms manufacturers and learn from their experience in building supply chains.
Qatari officials also visited a secret test site in Ukraine where Merops is used to study how the country shoots down Russian drones using Ukrainian and other technologies.
Politico reported on March 6 that Pentagon representatives came to Ukraine to learn from the experience of anti-drone technologies.
Context
After the United States and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28, the Islamic State responded with strikes, including against countries in the Middle East where there are American military facilities. The UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were hit by Iranian ballistic missiles and Shahed drones, which the Russian Federation regularly attacks Ukraine with.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky reported on March 3 that these states are turning to Ukraine because it has the greatest expertise in the world in protecting against Shahed. The President emphasized that cooperation to protect partners can only happen without reducing Ukraine’s own potential, and suggested that the leaders of the region agree with the illegitimate President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on a truce in the Russian-Ukrainian war.
On March 5, Zelensky said that Ukraine had received an official request from the US authorities to provide assistance to Middle Eastern countries in repelling Iranian drone attacks. He ordered to provide necessary funds and ensure the presence of Ukrainian specialiststhat can guarantee the necessary security.”
On March 7, Reuters reported that Ukrainian P1-Sun drones could be exported to the Middle East.
