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PBS News Hour - Segments

Ukraine's drone defense tech reshapes combat as warfare evolves

PBS News Hour - Segments

PBS NewsHour

Daily News, News

4.11K Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2026

⏱️ 8 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Earlier this month, President Trump told journalists he didn't want Ukraine's assistance with drone defense, saying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was the last person he'd ever ask for help. But during the Iran war, Gulf countries have been lining up to request Ukraine's guidance on how to counter drones. Special correspondent Simon Ostrovsky reports from Ukraine. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy

Transcript

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0:00.0

Earlier this month, President Trump said he didn't want Ukraine's help with drone defense,

0:05.0

saying Ukrainian President Volodemir Zelensky was the last person he'd turned to.

0:10.1

But as the with the war with Iran continuing, countries in the Gulf have been lining up for

0:15.0

Ukraine's guidance on how to counter drones. Just today, Zelensky was in Saudi Arabia to strike a deal with crown prince

0:21.7

Mohammed bin Salman. Special correspondent Simon Ostrovsky filed this report from Ukraine.

0:29.4

At a secret location in Ukraine, a local drone manufacturer demos its latest weapons.

0:45.3

A sting drone capable of intercepting the Iranian-designed Shahid suicide drone, Russia routinely launches into Ukraine.

0:47.3

The sting is fast, accurate, and crucially cheap.

0:53.3

Since its first successful strike a year ago,

0:56.0

interceptors like this one made by the defense tech firm Wild Hornets

1:00.0

have taken out around 4,000 Shahid-type drones.

1:04.0

This sting drone is a perfect example of the asymmetric warfare

1:09.0

that Ukrainians excel at. It costs between $1,300 and $2,200,

1:14.6

and it goes up against

1:16.6

Iranian and Russian Shahid drones that cost around $50,000 to make.

1:22.6

It's a technology that, until now

1:26.6

has largely been ignored by America's defense tech

1:29.6

industry that's traditionally focused on making exquisite and expensive weaponry that can

1:35.5

take decades to develop.

1:36.8

Don't tell us what we're going to feel.

1:39.0

Instead, the White House has stepped back from Ukraine, appropriating no new funds for the war since Trump

1:45.4

took office.

...

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