The American website Axios revealed that the administration of US President Donald Trump rejected a few months ago an offer from Ukraine to sell war-tested technology to shoot down Iranian Shahed drones.

The website stated that Ukrainian officials sought to market anti-drone technology developed by Kiev during the war with Russia, but the Trump administration rejected the offer at the time.

However, this position changed last week after Iran launched a barrage of drones in the region, following the American-Israeli attack on it.

During its war with Moscow, Ukraine developed interceptor drones, and is considered one of the most experienced countries in confronting the “Shahed” drones that Russia bought from Iran and used thousands of them to attack Ukrainian territory.

Last August 18, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented Trump with Ukrainian interceptor drones, in an attempt to strengthen relations with Washington and show gratitude for American support in confronting Russia.

Ukrainian officials presented a presentation to their American counterparts that included a map of the Middle East and a warning that Iran was working to develop the design of the “Shahed” attack aircraft, in addition to a proposal to establish a “drone combat center” at American bases in the Middle East.

A Ukrainian official said that Trump asked his team to study the idea, but they “did not take any subsequent steps.”

An American official familiar with the offer confirmed that Zelensky’s team had already presented it to the US administration, noting that some officials saw that the Ukrainian president “exaggerated in promoting himself and his country, which depends on foreign support.”

However, Iran’s launching of hundreds of attack drones in response to the American-Israeli attack changed American calculations, and later prompted Washington to request Ukraine’s assistance in combating drones, according to what the New York Times reported in a previous report.

The United States announced that it had shot down the vast majority of Iranian missiles and drones, and also revealed plans to deploy a special system to intercept “Shahed” drones known as “Merops.”

A US official told the Associated Press that the army’s performance against Iranian drones was “disappointing,” while another official acknowledged that the early deployment of Ukrainian interceptor aircraft would have improved operational performance.

The cost of the Iranian “Shahed” drone ranges between 20,000 and 50,000 dollars, depending on the model, while the cost of the Ukrainian interceptor aircraft is much less than that.

This solution is seen as beneficial to the US military, which currently uses air defense systems costing millions of dollars to intercept drones costing only tens of thousands.

The United States also uses other means to shoot down drones, including AH-64 Apache helicopters, and Britain announced the sending of Wildcat helicopters equipped with Marlit anti-drone missiles.

According to Axios, Ukraine tried to take advantage of Trump’s deal-based approach and made an offer to build a commercial partnership that includes manufacturing interceptor drones within the United States.

Kiev also proposed granting Washington access to the production of unmanned aerial vehicles and anti-unmanned aerial systems in exchange for purchasing American weapons.

Ukraine estimated that it could help produce up to 20 million pieces of these systems, with the aim of strengthening American dominance in the field of drones.