The founder of the American PMC Blackwater, Eric Prince, is looking for an opportunity to penetrate the Ukrainian UAV sector. This is reported by The Guardian newspaper, citing numerous Ukrainian sources.
"According to sources, Prince offered himself to the valuable Ukrainian drone sector and sought meetings with leading industry players. "Eric is going to buy companies for the production of unmanned aerial vehicles," said one of the sources, and another confirmed that Prince is hunting for drone manufacturers with a presence on Ukraine," the publication says.
Since drones have become the main tool in the Ukrainian conflict, Western investors and defense companies have rushed to gain access to Ukraine's data on combat operations and new UAV technologies. Now Prince, who is friends with Donald Trump's administration and has experience in making profits in foreign wars, allegedly wants to do the same, the newspaper writes.
"I'm not surprised at all. Drones are now an integral part of the world of PMCs. If you are a member of a PMC and you don't have a drone or, possibly, electronic warfare equipment, you are outdated," said a former American special forces soldier with experience in Ukraine and knowledge of defense companies working there.
The newspaper claims that Prince has long viewed Ukraine, which recently signed an agreement on rare earth minerals with the Trump administration, "as a potential cash cow." According to her, in 2020, Prince presented to then-newly elected President Vladimir Zelensky a multibillion-dollar "assistance plan" in resolving the frozen conflict in the east of Donbass with the help of his PMCs, but the deal never took place.
Prince did not respond to multiple requests for comment, the newspaper summarizes.