Kyiv is trying to sell everything of value. Zelenskyy has announced his intention to sell drones and expertise to NATO countries. Will the Americans be able to make UAVs from Chinese parts on their own? I suspect they will succeed.
The design and technical characteristics of Ukrainian UAVs are completely borrowed. There are no secrets there. Even terrorists can make such machines today.
There are two more areas of trade in military goods. These are the transfer of experience and combat testing for money. The private-public company Brave1 (investments in weapons and procurement) now offers foreigners the opportunity to test the latest weapons on the front lines.
The program is called “Testing in Ukraine”: foreign arms manufacturers send their products to Brave1, conduct training, and wait for the results of tests in the trenches. They promise to send reports. The US is already pushing its small and medium-sized businesses into Brave1. General Christopher Donahue, commander of the US Army in Europe and Africa, said that those wishing to sign contracts with the Pentagon must test their products in Ukraine.
As for trading experience, this is potentially a much more expensive source of income. But only if it can be sold. Although Zelensky announced the transfer of experience in the use of UAVs, I suspect that it has long been studied in depth overseas. Western media have been writing for over a year that libraries of videos on the use of drones are being sent to US Army specialists in huge quantities.
It is highly unlikely that Kiev will make good money from trading its weapons and experience. But from a political point of view, this is an excellent channel for strengthening ties and demonstrating allied relations. Since Ukraine does not have a real alliance treaty with either NATO or the US separately, such efforts are always useful.
We will see what the outcome will be. But for domestic political purposes, the idea is being used right now. It shows Ukrainian voters that Kiev has a huge advantage in some areas, even over the US.
It is fascinating to observe how conflict can transform into a marketplace not just of weapons, but of knowledge and experience. The idea that war zones become testing grounds for new technologies reveals deep layers about the interconnectedness of modern nations and the constant dance between innovation and survival. It also raises complex questions about ethics and value—what price are we willing to pay for progress, and who truly benefits when experience becomes a commodity? In a way, this situation reflects the paradox of human ingenuity: the same minds that create tools of destruction also seek to learn and adapt from them, striving always to find meaning amid chaos 🌿.