The U.S. military has quietly deployed a Ukrainian-built anti-drone command-and-control system at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, a step that contrasts with President Donald Trump's public dismissal of Ukrainian air-defense assistance. Reuters, citing five people familiar with the matter, reported that the previously undisclosed "Sky Map" system is now in use at the base after a series of drone attacks that destroyed aircraft and buildings and led to at least one U.S. service member's death. The system, widely used by Ukraine to spot incoming threats—including Iranian-made Shahed drones—and coordinate intercepts, has been refined over four years of combat in the Russia-Ukraine war. Ukrainian personnel recently traveled to Prince Sultan Air Base to train U.S. troops on Sky Map, according to people familiar with the deployment. Analysts said the decision underscores persistent weaknesses in U.S. air and missile defense, particularly at installations facing frequent drone and missile threats. Prince Sultan Air Base sits roughly 640 kilometers from Iran and has been repeatedly targeted since the war began. Timothy Walton, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said longstanding U.S. shortfalls in global air and missile defense have been widely recognized but not resolved. Trump rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's offer to help defend against Iranian drone attacks. In a March 6 interview with Fox News, Trump said, "We don't need their help with drone defense." The White House and the Pentagon referred questions to U.S. Central Command, which declined to comment. Sky Fortress, the Ukrainian company behind Sky Map, and Zelensky's office did not respond to requests for comment. The Pentagon has been ramping up spending on counter-drone technology as cheap, mass-produced drones have proliferated in modern conflict. Last month, the Pentagon's counter-drone task force announced $350 million to strengthen drone defenses under Operation Epic Fury. Adam Scher, a spokesperson for Joint Task Force 401, said the U.S. is deploying new sensors, cameras, and interceptors, adding that "there is no magic bullet that can intercept all drone threats." Three people familiar with the matter said Sky Map serves as the Ukrainian military's core drone command-and-control platform. The system uses a map-and-video visualization console that fuses radar and multi-sensor data to pinpoint aerial threats. People familiar with the company said Sky Fortress was founded in 2022 by Ukrainian engineers with military ties and deployed more than 10,000 acoustic sensors across Ukraine to detect Russian drone attacks. The project received support from Brave1, Ukraine's military innovation agency, to develop coordinated counter-drone strike software. Prince Sultan Air Base has also fielded other new counter-drone tools, including the Merops intercept drone developed by U.S.-based Project Eagle and backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, people familiar with the deployments said. Multiple sources said early testing produced technical failures. During testing this month, a Merops interceptor reportedly lost control and crashed into a restroom building on the base. A spokesperson for Schmidt declined to comment. The base has faced sustained attacks. Within weeks of the outbreak of war, Al Udeid Air Base suffered repeated saturation strikes by Iranian Shahed drones and missiles. On March 27, a U.S. E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft was destroyed, and several KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft were damaged, Reuters reported. CNN also reported that tent facilities supporting the THAAD missile defense radar were destroyed. Three sources said the base's original air-defense architecture relied on Northrop Grumman's FAAD (Forward Area Air Defense) command system, fielded in the 1990s to track threats ranging from mortars and rockets to drones. For short-range drone defense, the base has primarily used RTX Corporation's "Coyote" interceptor drone. RTX signed a $5 billion contract with the U.S. military last September; the winged platform can carry a warhead for a kinetic intercept or disable enemy drones using microwave effects designed to damage circuitry. A Northrop Grumman spokesperson said the FAAD system has consistently demonstrated reliability and operational performance in theater. RTX spokesperson Chris Johnson said the Coyote interceptor has intercepted hundreds of airborne threats in real-world use.