Ukraine sending drone team to help protect US bases in Jordan at Washington’s request, Zelenskyy says

Ukraine has dispatched interceptor drones and a squad of drone specialists to assistance support U.S. subject bases successful Jordan arsenic warring tied to the Iran warfare intensifies crossed the region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said successful an interrogation with The New York Times.

Zelenskyy told the NYT that Washington made the petition connected Thursday, and Kyiv moved swiftly to respond, dispatching the drone squad the pursuing day.

"We reacted immediately," Zelenskyy said. "I said, yes, of course, we volition nonstop our experts."

The White House did not instantly respond to Fox News Digital’s petition for confirmation.

IRAN PROXIES WAGE WAR ON ISRAEL, THREATEN US INTERESTS AS IRAQ SLAMMED FOR NOT DISARMING THEM

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi stands during a associated property league with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Rob Jetten connected March 8, 2026, successful Kyiv, Ukraine. (Viktor Kovalchuk/Global Images Ukraine/Getty Images)

The reported petition comes arsenic the U.S. and Gulf states enactment to intercept hundreds of Iranian missiles and thousands of drones launched successful retaliation for U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iranian drones person struck the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, including an onslaught connected a tactical operations halfway successful Kuwait that killed six U.S. work members.

The precocious measurement of Iranian Shahed drone launches has drawn attraction to the outgo disparity betwixt the comparatively inexpensive unmanned craft and the acold much blase aerial defence systems, specified arsenic Patriot missiles, utilized to intercept them.

PETRAEUS CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA OVER ALLEGED INTELLIGENCE SUPPORT TO IRAN

According to the Department of the Army's Fiscal Year 2026 fund estimates, the outgo for a azygous Patriot PAC-3 MSE interceptor is $3.8 million.

A basal Iranian-designed Shahed drone costs astir $20,000 to $50,000, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

CENTCOM ISSUES SAFETY WARNING TO IRANIAN CIVILIANS AS REGIME USES ‘HEAVILY POPULATED’ AREAS FOR LAUNCHES

FPV grooming drones are seen connected a partition astatine the Killhouse Academy drone grooming halfway connected March 4, 2026, successful Kyiv, Ukraine. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

"Iran knows it can’t lucifer the U.S. oregon Gulf states level for level oregon rocket for missile, but it tin alteration the economics of the conflict," said Patrycja Bazylczyk, an subordinate manager with the Missile Defense Project astatine CSIS, successful an interrogation with Military Times.

"Drones fto Iran punch supra its weight, support its adversaries disconnected balance, and task powerfulness crossed the portion astatine minimal cost. We can’t conscionable play whack-a-mole successful the sky," she added. "Shooting drones down 1 by 1 is the astir costly mode to combat the cheapest threat. We person to spell aft the roots – the motorboat sites, the accumulation lines, and the retention depots."