US deploys Ukrainian-made interceptor drones to Middle East

The Pentagon has sent 10,000 Ukrainian-developed interceptor drones to the Middle East to counter Iranian attacks, US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told Bloomberg, according to Report.

The drones, named Merops and equipped with artificial intelligence systems, were deployed within five days of the start of the operation against Iran.

Driscoll explained that the Merops drones were designed under the Eagle initiative as a modular platform capable of operating in swarms and autonomously identifying high-priority targets. The design documentation and software were developed in Ukraine, while serial production was established at industrial facilities in US allied countries to minimize risks to production sites and accelerate output.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump told Fox News that the US does not require Ukraine's assistance in countering Iranian attacks.

US and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed a large-scale retaliatory operation, striking targets in Israel, Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.