The Times: AFU Instructors Were Shocked To See US Military Shoot Down Shaheds
15- 20.03.2026, 14:16
- 17,234
What surprised the Ukrainian military?
Ukrainian instructors who were sent to the Middle East were shocked to see how the U.S. military shoots down Shahed-type attack drones.
The Times reports The Times.
Ukraine has sent a team of 201 instructors to Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to help defend against Iranian missiles and drones.
One of the Ukrainian officers said he was amazed that the Gulf states had launched as many as 8 Patriot interceptor missiles, each costing more than $3 million, at a single enemy target.
It is noted that data from the missions of the crews of the Ukrainian Patriot missiles has been shared with allies who also use the system. However, the US and its allies in the Persian Gulf did not pay attention to the complex calculations that Ukraine made to improve interception rates of enemy targets.
"I don't understand what they (allies - ed.) did, what they looked at for four years while we are fighting," the Ukrainian officer said.
According to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, the US and its allies launched more than 800 Patriot missiles in the first four days of the war in Iran, about 200 more than Ukraine has received in the past three years.
"Often they (the US and its allies - ed.) fired recklessly. For example, they used an SM-6 missile from a ship, a very good missile worth about $6 million, to shoot down a $70,000 Shahed," said one Ukrainian officer.
Ukrainian instructors also pointed out that allies often fail to properly camouflage their expensive radars from the enemy.
But the Ukrainian side has considerable experience in this matter: mobile radar systems are constantly changing positions, so Russian forces almost never manage to hit them.
One of the Ukrainian experts cited an illustrative case: only three cheap Shahed drones were able to hit the AN/FPS-132 early detection radar worth about a billion dollars, as well as at least one radar of Terminal high-altitude air defense systems, the price of which reaches about $300 million.
He said the sites were clearly visible on public satellite images.
"For two months they stood in exactly the same place, and then the Shaheds came. Three Shaheds worth about 70,000 dollars each. And that's it," the Ukrainian officer said.
At the same time, Ukrainian Colonel Kirill Peretyatko of the tactical air defense group said no country should relax when it comes to studying air defense.
He said Ukraine's lessons in organizing weapons against a wide range of targets could help other countries.
"There have never been such operations, such clashes as those taking place now in Ukraine in world history. This is a completely different war that all countries are studying," Peretyatko noted.
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