New Delhi, March 10 -- As the war in the Middle East strains U.S. missile stocks, Ukraine is hoping it can turn a wartime innovation - low-cost interceptors designed to shoot down Russian attack drones - into geopolitical leverage.

Now one of the world's leading producers of interceptors, Ukraine is offering that expertise to the United States and its Gulf partners for the war in the Middle East, hoping to receive in return the high-end weaponry it can't manufacture at home.

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion four years ago, Ukraine's domestic arms industry was poor. Forced to innovate to survive, it has since built a fast-growing defense sector centered on low-cost drones - some designed specifically to counter Iranian-style ...