The U. S. military confrontation with Iran is depleting Patriot interceptor stocks, which Ukraine needs to defend against Russia.

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Ukraine is ready to deploy its top drone intercept operators to the Middle East, but there's a catch.

Patriot batteries are considered Ukraine's top defense against Russia's ballistic missiles. Russia often mixes up how it attacks Ukraine with ballistic and cruise missiles -- from firing decoys to tweaking trajectories midflight -- and Kyiv says it's funneling that battlefield intel to US Patriot interceptor makers to inform upgrades for better performance.