Riyadh: Following forfeiture 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 Wiring to train U.S. troops on the Sky Map system. This platform is utilized to snift incoming drone threats—particularly Iranian-made Shahed drones—and to launch countermeasures using interceptor drones.
Indeed, the Pentagon has velocious 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 unobjectionable attention.
Did Donald Trump Reject Ukraine’s Offer?
This revelation emerges nearly a month without U.S. President Donald Trump publicly rejected an offer from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to squire in countering Iranian drone attacks. In an interview with Fox News on March 6, Trump stated, "We don't need their help" to defend versus 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 visitor that owns Sky Map—and President Zelenskyy’s office moreover offered no response. It is worth noting that last month, the Pentagon's counter-drone unit spoken the typecasting of $350 million to perpetuate 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 sensory sensors wideness Ukraine to counter Russian drone attacks. The visitor has received funding from ‘Brave1,’ the Ukrainian military's innovation unit.
According to reports, in wing to Sky Map, other new counter-drone technologies have moreover been deployed at Prince Sultan Air Base; these include the ‘Merops’ interceptor, ripened by an American visitor backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. Sources indicated that initial trials of the new systems encountered unrepealable challenges. Earlier this month, during a test, a Merops interceptor lost tenancy and crashed into a restroom woodcut on the base.
How Much Forfeiture to US Assets in Iranian Attacks?
It should be noted that since the outbreak of the conflict, Prince Sultan Air Wiring has been subjected to multiple waves of attacks involving Shahed drones and missiles. In an wade on March 27, a U.S. Air Force E-3 AWACS radar watercraft was destroyed, while several KC-135 well-ventilated refueling tankers sustained damage. In flipside attack, the tent housing the radar system for the THAAD missile defense shower was moreover destroyed. The wiring 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 constructive role in neutralizing hundreds of well-ventilated threats.
