Ukraine Ready to Share Marine Drone and UAV Interceptor Technologies With Japan

Ukraine is ready to cooperate with Japan in the defense sector, in particular to share marine drone and UAV interceptor technologies.

This was stated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an interview with Kyodo News.

According to him, deeper cooperation in this area could be a historic step for both countries.

Zelensky noted that Japan is one of the countries that has licenses for its own production of missiles and air defense systems capable of countering ballistic threats.

Accordingly, Ukraine would like to have joint production or exchange knowledge.

“We are ready to open up our technologies — for example, marine drones for coastal defense. Without our own fleet, we were able to destroy part of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea with our naval drones,” the president said.

The head of state stressed that thanks to the effective use of domestic naval drones, Russian occupiers do not approach Ukrainian shores. They are afraid of losing their ships.

“There are other things that could be useful for Japan: cybersecurity, interceptor drones, energy and critical infrastructure management in crisis situations, broader experience of modern warfare, and so on,” Zelensky added.

Ukraine is generally ready to share what it has learned in this war with the Russian invaders.

Deepening cooperation with Japan

In early February, Deputy Head of the Office of the President Ihor Zhovkva announced that the governments of Ukraine and Japan plan to conclude an intergovernmental agreement on the transfer of defense equipment and technologies. According to him, the Japanese side is interested in cooperation in the field of maritime unmanned systems.

Ukraine, for its part, is ready for substantive dialogue and expansion of contacts both at the interregional level and between specific manufacturers.

It was recently announced that Japan plans to join the PURL initiative to purchase American systems for Ukraine. The country is ready to provide funding exclusively for non-lethal defense equipment, including radars.