President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, following a meeting with the leaders of France, Germany, and Britain in the "Big Three" (E3) format, announced the intention of these countries to help Ukraine with anti-ballistic missile defense. In an interview with The Guardian, he also emphasized that a country like Great Britain also needs an anti-ballistic system, UNN reports.
"The E3 countries will help us with anti-ballistics. By the way, I hope that we will be able to develop a European anti-ballistic system together with Great Britain. We are working on this. We need it, and Great Britain needs it," Zelenskyy stated.
In the interview with The Guardian, the Head of State also noted that Patriot missiles are expensive, costing 4 million dollars each. Great Britain does not have its own missile defense program.
"London, Paris, Berlin, and other EU states should cooperate on creating an alternative to the American version," the British publication writes, citing the words of the President of Ukraine.
Zelenskyy added that, in return, Ukraine is ready to share "its hard-won experience in fighting drones with its European friends."
It is obvious that this refers to the Freya pan-European anti-ballistic shield project, the basis of which is to be the FP-7.X interceptor missile produced by the Ukrainian company Fire Point.
The Freya project - what is known about it and can it become a shield for all of Europe?
In early June, Fire Point CEO and CTO Iryna Terekh reported on the testing of the FP-7.X interceptor missile and published a video of the launch.
"We simulated a test during which the missile receives a command from a ground radar. The missile is directed to a zone where a thermal seeker detects a 'threat' – a ballistic missile, and the missile intercepts it," explained Fire Point co-founder and chief designer Denys Shtilerman in a comment to the defense publication Jane’s. According to him, the company plans to carry out a number of further test launches before launching the interceptor against ballistics.
Military experts reacted instantly to the missile tests.
"In fact, this time we were shown that the missile is capable and has controllability, and can intercept aerial ballistic targets. That is, in this video, the most important thing is that the missile had a given trajectory and could perform maneuvers in flight, which, in fact, help quite a lot in hitting ballistic missiles that fly along a quasi-trajectory and can perform maneuvers in the final stage of their flight. This is very important, that the missile doesn't just fly somewhere at a target, but it's about hit-to-kill (kinetic interception - ed.), that is, about hitting the enemy ballistic missile itself and thus knocking it off course. And this is exactly the most important thing that was demonstrated to us in the latest video," explained Zemlyanyi, commenting on the video demonstrating the launch and flight of the FP-7.x missile.
Western experts also evaluated the tests. For instance, Fabian Hoffmann, an expert in missile technology and defense policy, stated in a comment to the German publication Tagesspiegel that the idea has potential.
It should be added that Fire Point aims to create not just an interceptor, but a missile that will cost significantly less than the PAC-3 missile for Patriot systems. For comparison: the expected cost of the FP-7.X is up to one million dollars, while the cost of one Patriot missile starts from 4.9 million dollars (in a recently approved deal for Saudi Arabia to purchase missiles, the cost of one munition was 12.3 million dollars).
But this is not the only unique feature of the system.
As Fire Point co-founder and chief designer Denys Shtilerman stated, the key difference of the Freya project is its independence from external control. He explained that modern Western air defense systems often operate in a closed architecture format, where the supplier country or manufacturer effectively retains control over critical elements of the system.
"Freya is about intercepting ballistics. We proposed a pan-European anti-ballistic shield based on our interceptor and based on an open architecture and software solution that will prove to the end-user that this solution can never be turned off by the manufacturer, the company that sold it to them, or the country that sold it to them," he explained.
In fact, this is about a new philosophy of armament: not just buying a security system, but gaining full sovereignty over it.
It is known that in addition to Ukraine, Germany, France, Norway, and Sweden are participating in the project. Following President Zelenskyy's statement, it is possible that Great Britain may also join the project. At this stage, according to experts, the most difficult task is to mobilize European partners to move toward the successful implementation of the project faster. At the same time, Europeans are already demonstrating serious intentions and interest in Freya, which could become the basis of a new security architecture for Europe amidst constant threats from the Russian Federation. For instance, it is known that Fire Point independently initiated an audit by one of the "Big Four" consulting firms, which lasted 9 months and found no price gouging, and also passed compliance checks by European partners and received the "green light" to cooperate with their security sector. This is no longer about intentions, but concrete steps. And the European bureaucratic machine is taking them toward Ukrainian innovations in the defense sector.
It is known from open sources that the system will be built on the basis of a lightweight mobile launcher of Ukrainian manufacture. The use of ground-based long-range early warning radars is planned. Three variants of such systems are being considered: Giraffe 8A/4A produced by the Swedish concern SAAB, Thales Ground Master 400 (France), or Hensoldt TRML-4D (Germany). The illumination and guidance radar is the Weibel GFTR-2100/48 or Leonardo KRONOS Land. The command post will be deployed based on the Norwegian Kongsberg Fire Distribution Center. Its feature will be an open architecture and a Network Access Nodes module, which will allow for custom integrations. Communication between all elements of the system is carried out via the Link 16 tactical data link, standardized according to STANAG 5516. This protocol is the main interface for integrating Freya into Ukraine's existing air defense system. An approach where the system is based on existing solutions will facilitate its faster launch, provided no obstacles arise: not only Russia, but also individual arms manufacturers who dislike competition from Ukraine, may be uninterested in a system capable of radically changing the balance of power.
Despite the obstacles, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy personally supports the project.
"I am constantly pushing this idea, which is very difficult because no one wants to have strong competitors. I am constantly pushing the idea of Ukrainian ballistics and Ukrainian anti-ballistics," he stated.
European partners are gradually realizing the changing logic of war: the advantage goes to those capable of quickly implementing the cheapest innovative solutions. And Ukraine is becoming the flagship of this process.
"We realized that you, as a country, are capable of producing faster, more creatively, and smarter than the rest of us, even though we are not at war. And this, frankly, is quite uncomfortable for the rest of Europe, but at the same time, it is truly impressive," stated Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.
Therefore, the main thing is not to interfere with the project's launch process. Freya, once launched, will not be just another air defense system. It is a precedent: for the first time, Ukraine can enter the pan-European security architecture not as a consumer of aid, but as an equal technological partner. And, perhaps, as a country that has defined the standards for a new stage of defensive sovereignty.