U.S. dronemaker Skydio said it had started hiring employees in Ukraine, a first step in an effort to expand its business there.

Adam Bry, Founder and CEO of Skydio, told Defense News about this.

Skydio is a developer of small reconnaissance drones, which are currently used by the Ukrainian army and have been approved for procurement by the US Army.

For now, the hires are in the single digits, with employees focused on engineering and customer support.

“I’ve never met drone users as sophisticated as the folks in Ukraine. We want a team there [in Ukraine],” Bry said.

Bry said he could see Skydio manufacturing drones in Ukraine later on, but thinks building smaller components, like the equipment that helps prevent jamming, is more realistic at first.

The war in Ukraine is the first to feature widespread use of small, commercial style drones. In the last two years, it’s become a sandbox for companies around the world trying to test their equipment.

Bry went as far to say that Ukraine’s needs are driving Skydio’s product development, even when that doesn’t overlap with the U.S. government.

Both Ukraine and the United States are interested in the latest model of X10D drones, which are seen as a contender in the army’s Short Range Reconnaissance program.

Bry said that the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior had requested “thousands” of such drones. According to him, the requirements of both countries are similar but not identical.

“Where there’s discrepancy, we’re prioritizing what we’re seeing in Ukraine,” he said.

The main difference between the two sets of requirements is in resiliency. Ukraine’s biggest need is for drones that can counter intense Russian jamming, and Skydio is currently focused on making that happen.