Iranian “Shaheeds” turned out to be an “icy shower” for the US: Serhiy Kryvonos explained why the Americans turned to Ukraine for help
The worsening security situation in the Middle East and the increasing number of drone attacks are forcing the United States to seek new technical solutions to protect its military bases and strategic infrastructure. Particular attention is being paid to systems capable of effectively intercepting kamikaze drones, which, due to their relatively low cost and the possibility of mass use, pose serious problems even for sophisticated air defense systems. The United States has begun negotiations on the acquisition of Ukrainian P1-SUN interceptor drones designed to destroy Iranian Shahed drones.
As Reserve Major General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Serhiy Kryvonos noted, relatively inexpensive Iranian Shahed drones have demonstrated unexpectedly high effectiveness against the United States’ military infrastructure in the Middle East, the creation and protection of which has been invested in enormous financial resources for decades. At the same time, Ukraine’s practical experience in countering such drones led the American military leadership to initiate direct contacts with Kyiv, interested in the solutions developed in the fight against these drones.
Cooperation between the Ukrainian and American military on countering drones, as Serhiy Kryvonos explains, takes place in a format that avoids complex diplomatic procedures and long-term agreements. We are talking about direct contacts between specialists of defense structures, for whom the priority is not political protocol, but the speed of obtaining practical solutions.
Such an approach is explained by the specifics of the problem itself, because drone attacks require immediate response and prompt implementation of new technical and tactical means. In such conditions, communication between military personnel who directly deal with such threats allows for a faster transfer of experience tested in real combat than multi-level consultations at the political level.
“Such issues are resolved faster than through official offices. The Americans need solutions “for yesterday”, so they work directly with those who have real combat experience,” the general noted, emphasizing the practical need for operational interaction in the field of defense technologies.
Serhiy Kryvonos also drew attention to the paradox of modern defense: over the past 20-30 years, the United States has invested trillions of dollars in the development and protection of its bases in the Middle East, counting primarily on countering aviation and missile threats. However, even the most advanced systems have proven vulnerable to mass attacks by relatively inexpensive Iranian Shahed drones.
The relatively inexpensive Shahed drones have demonstrated the ability to bypass or overload traditional air defense systems. The result is a situation where defenses built on complex and expensive technologies are forced to respond to a threat posed by much cheaper means of destruction. This imbalance, according to Kryvonos, became a serious test for the American defense concept of base protection, since it did not take into account such a massive use of small drones.
“For the American command, this became a kind of “icy shower”, because the doctrine of base protection was designed for a completely different type of threats, and massive attacks by cheap drones demonstrated real weaknesses even in a multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure”, – Kryvonos emphasized.
The military expert emphasized that the Ukrainian experience of countering kamikaze drones of the “Shahed” type is unique in the world, since Ukraine was forced to work out effective methods of protection in the conditions of a real war. In his opinion, one of the key aspects of this practice is economic feasibility, because the use of expensive missiles to destroy relatively cheap drones would lead to a rapid depletion of defense budgets, so the Ukrainian military was looking for ways to balance efficiency and rational use of resources.
Kryvonos also emphasized that an important component is the construction of a multi-level network defense that combines mobile fire groups, electronic warfare means and interceptor drones, which makes it possible to respond to the threat at different stages of the drone’s flight. In addition, the general drew attention to the adaptability of the system, that is, the ability to quickly change the means of destruction in accordance with the enemy’s changing tactics, which allows maintaining flexibility and high efficiency in real combat conditions.
According to him, it is these developments, formed on the basis of Ukraine’s combat experience, that have become the resource that is critically important today for partners and allies looking for effective means of protection against modern strike drones.
The knowledge accumulated by Ukraine in the field of countering drones is gradually turning into an important element of cooperation with international partners. Defense manufacturers are already declaring their readiness to supply affordable unmanned systems designed to combat air targets to the countries of the Middle East. Therefore, practical experience gained during the war is becoming an important factor in the formation of international ties in the field of security. Technologies and tactical developments that have proven their effectiveness in real combat conditions can play a significant role in protecting the infrastructure of partners and allies.
