“The lesson from Kyiv is the same one now being written in the Gulf, namely that defence alone is a losing game if the attacker can produce faster than the defender can intercept.”

“Ukrainian companies have already developed low-cost interceptor drones now being sought by Gulf states — a telling sign of where battlefield innovation is happening.”

“Europe needs to invest in cheap counter-drone capabilities at large scale that would reduce the massive financial asymmetry between attack and defence.”

“Earlier this month, the UK government convened a meeting of defence companies with ambassadors and defence attachés from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Iraq and Jordan, focused on supplying defensive equipment and technology to counter Iranian drone and missile attacks at speed.”

“In 2025, European defence tech startups raised $1.8bn (€1.65bn), nearly three times the previous yearly record, according to deal-counting platform Dealroom, with a further $854m (€785m) raised in the first months of 2026 alone.”

“Companies including Estonia-headquartered Frankenburg Technologies and Ukrainian-UK startup Uforce are both developing low-cost drone and missile interceptors.”

“Russia's defence industrial base can produce many more modern drones and missiles than even the highly advanced Ukrainian air defence can intercept.”

“Ukraine's domestically produced long-range drones and missiles have struck refineries, weapons depots and production facilities deep inside Russia — in some cases disrupting months of drone and missile output in a single strike.”

“Rather than expending expensive interceptors to knock down cheap drones one by one, Europe should be stockpiling large volumes of affordable air-defence munitions while simultaneously developing offensive strike capabilities to degrade Russian production.”