The US military has introduced Ukrainian counter-drone technology in recent weeks at a key US air base in Saudi Arabia, according to five people with knowledge of the matter, as it seeks to stem attacks that have destroyed aircraft and buildings, and killed at least one service member, Reuters reports.

The deployment of a Ukrainian command-and-control platform called Sky Map at Prince Sultan Air Base, which has not previously been reported, is a sign of how Ukraine’s military has surged ahead in drone and counter-drone technologies that have been battle-hardened.

Ukrainian military officials arrived at the base in recent weeks to train US warfighters with Sky Map, which is used widely by the Ukrainian military to detect incoming drone threats – including Iranian-developed Shahed drones—and launch counter-attacks with interceptor drones.

The development comes a month after President Donald Trump publicly rejected an offer from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to provide help in combating Iranian drone strikes. “We don't need their help in drone defense,” Trump told Fox News on March 6.

The White House and the Pentagon directed questions to US Central Command, which oversees Prince Sultan. Central Command declined to comment.

But the use of Ukrainian technology at Prince Sultan, which is about 400 miles (640 kilometers) from Iran and has endured waves of drones and missiles since the war began, highlights vulnerabilities in US air and missile defense, analysts say.

“There's been longstanding gaps in U.S. air missile defense coverage around the world,” said Timothy Walton, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Hudson Institute think tank. “This has been well understood. However, it hasn't been addressed.”