The founder of the NGO «Aerial Intelligence Support Center» Maria Berlinska spoke about the competition of Ukrainian drone technologies with Western developments in the Persian Gulf countries.
The founder of the NGO «Aerial Intelligence Support Center» Maria Berlinska spoke about the competition of Ukrainian drone technologies with Western developments in the Persian Gulf countries.
«As soon as the war in the Middle East began, dozens of Ukrainian producers immediately went there. In whole teams. The interest is clear — there is conditionally „all the oil money in the world“ and zero expertise in cheap fighting with Shaheds. This opens up a huge space of opportunities,» Berlinska wrote in a column in Ukrainska Pravda.
According to her, currently, arms exports are not de jure banned in Ukraine, but in reality, only a few receive the appropriate permission.
«Therefore, everyone who can produce something has been gradually „leaking“ to other countries since 2022. In the EU, and now in the Middle East, more and more companies are appearing where the co-owners have Ukrainian surnames. To paraphrase the classic: It is impossible to stop the export of Miltech, whose time has come,» says Maria Berlinska.
In her opinion, the ban does not deter talented Ukrainian engineers, who are able to quickly earn «tens of millions of dollars». And when the state does not give them permits for years, they open a company in another country.
«It is important to understand that we ourselves artificially placed our own companies, those that created the industry, in non-competitive conditions with foreigners. While Ukraine was deciding on the rules for a long time, foreign companies had already managed to use the Ukrainian theater of operations as proof of the effectiveness of their decisions,» the founder of the «Aerial Intelligence Support Center» pointed out.
She noted that investments in defense-tech have sharply increased in Europe and indicated that European defense companies are using Ukrainian experience to develop their products.
«The conclusion is simple: Ukraine creates experience and demand. But the money often doesn’t go to us… Foreign companies are already here. They open R&D, test products at the front, improve them — communication, algorithms, protection against electronic warfare. And then they sell it all over the world. Together with the product, our experience is also sold,» Berlinska said.
She noted that Western manufacturers come to Ukraine, test products in combat conditions, and receive feedback from Ukrainians. They then refine their products and sell them as a proven solution.
For them, it’s rapid growth and minimal risks. For us, it’s the risk of remaining a country that invented and proved all this, but didn’t make money.
«Recently, the Ministry of Defense team gathered manufacturers and for the first time proposed a clear export model, which is essentially agreed upon by almost all market players. If you want to export, please do!», said Maria Berlinska.
According to her, Ukrainian arms manufacturers believe that these rules are clear and fair. They allow the sale of Ukrainian weapons that are not needed for the front, and only to those countries that are reliable partners. In addition, they must pay 10% of the export duty on the value of the contract or each sale to third countries.
«And most importantly, you are either bought at home or have to be released in 30 days. No corrupt permits lasting for years. This is a model of pure, classic export,» the volunteer noted.
Recall that the US is supplying the Middle East with thousands of Merops complexes with Surveyor anti-aircraft drones, developed by Eric Schmidt’s company, who previously headed Google. They were created based on the expertise of the Ukrainian military and tested in Ukraine.
