Workers are working up to 12 hours a day in a small warehouse in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Their job is to assemble 3D-printed parts to create an ‘interceptor’ that can fly at speeds of 200 miles per hour and destroy Iranian drones in the sky.
Florida-based US startup PowerAss opened a factory in the United Arab Emirates last month to produce low-cost drone-destroying weapons. This is its first foray into the Middle East as part of its global arms supply. The company’s affiliated factories are currently producing about 3,000 drone interceptors per month. They aim to increase global production to 15,000 per month by mid-2027. However, the company did not disclose the names of its customers and contract manufacturers in the Emirates.
Transformation of conventional defense systems
The defense industry is known for its slow pace, bureaucratic complexity, and high costs. But PowerAs is changing that to meet the urgent needs of its allies. Instead of building new factories in the United States and exporting weapons, they are partnering with local manufacturers in the regions where they are needed.
Iran has carried out the most attacks on civilian infrastructure in the UAE since the war began in February last year. More than 500 ballistic missiles and more than 2,200 drones have been fired at targets in the UAE so far in the war. These attacks have killed at least 15 people and injured hundreds, shut down an oil refinery and destroyed two Amazon data centers. As US weapons stockpiles dwindle, there is a strong need for alternative and faster-delivery interceptors.
Easy-to-assemble technology like a logo toy
An interceptor is a small missile that destroys drones or threats in the sky before they can hit their target. The interceptors, called Guardians, cost just $5,000 each (about Rs. 6 lakh). They are based on a design that was used against Russian Shahed drones in Ukraine.
These Guardian interceptors are easy to build, with components that can be snapped together like a regular ‘Logo’ toy. They use readily available microchips and GPS technology. While they can’t destroy ballistic missiles like Lockheed Martin’s Pac-3, they are very effective at destroying Iran’s widely used Shahed drones.
Joint production and global markets
PowerAs co-founder and executive vice president Michael Sinensky said that workers, mainly from the Philippines and China, are producing about 30 interceptors a day at the factory in the Emirates, which will soon be increased to 100.
The company recently signed a $22 million commercial contract to protect oil and gas infrastructure in the Middle East, and has also partnered with a defense company near Mumbai, India, to build interceptors.
Even Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defense contractor, is planning to build a low-cost interceptor with European partners, but testing of their $2 million model is not possible before 2028.
On the other hand, US defense company Raytheon has announced the production of its Coyote interceptors in the Emirates, each of which costs an estimated $126,500. In addition, California-based startup Neros is producing another interceptor drone called the Bandit for $5,000.
The Trump connection behind the business
Shortly after the war began, PowerAs merged with publicly traded golf course operator Orius Greenway Holdings. The deal was brokered by Dominary Securities, an investment firm whose partners and advisory board include US President Donald Trump’s two eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
In addition, retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, a former senior adviser to the Trump administration, has joined the company’s advisory board. Last June, Unusual Machines, an advisor to Trump Jr., invested $30 million in PowerAs, a drone parts manufacturer. This month, they also signed a contract worth up to $90 million to supply interceptors to the US Air Force.
How Power Us started
The seeds of Power Us were sown when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Michael Sinensky, owner of the medical supplies collection company Wishiild, and his friend Roman Winfeld went to Ukraine and witnessed the intensity of drone warfare, and their own humanitarian aid warehouse was destroyed.
Later, he met former US Army Special Operations members Brett Velikevich, Andrew Fox and Jib Marm. Together, the five formed Power Us. They licensed Ukrainian battlefield technology and acquired technology companies such as Tandem Defense and Kaizen Aerospace, and began working for the US military in factories in North Carolina and California.
Limitations and future challenges
Experts say the low-cost Guardian interceptor could be a complement to the main missile system, but not a replacement. Stacey Pettison, a senior fellow at the Washington-based think tank Center for a New American Security, said Iran may be expanding its missile arsenal, including the fast jet-powered Geran-3 drone. Iran could follow the path of Russia’s massive missile and drone strikes in Ukraine.
However, Albert Vidal, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), believes that Middle Eastern countries will no longer take the economic risk of destroying a $40,000 Shahed drone using a multi-million dollar Pac-3. Their goal now is to develop their own technology and produce it locally at low cost by any means necessary.
