Freyja is to complement existing missile defense systems and enable larger-scale and cheaper production, Zelenskyy says
Kyiv • UNN
The president said that Freyja should become an integrated part of the defense of Ukraine and Europe.
The Freyja antiballistic program does not replace effective missile defense systems, including Patriot and SAMP/T, but is intended to complement them and provide the capability to produce interceptors on a larger scale and at lower cost. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this during his address to the United Nations General Assembly, UNN reports.
Our Freyja program does not replace effective systems such as Patriot or SAMP/T. We want to develop and build a system that can be produced on a larger scale and at lower cost. A system that can be an integrated part of the defense of Ukraine and Europe. One that can help any nation. The global waiting list for antiballistic missiles is enormous, and the threat is growing. Therefore, we need to produce enough systems to protect us, so that every person sitting in this hall could say that my people are protected. This is our approach to security
According to him, today even the wealthiest countries in the world cannot find enough interceptors.
Even those that had been stockpiling them for years have already used their interceptors. Unfortunately, this is the reality. Even in the Gulf countries, where nations are genuinely trying to build a powerful antiballistic system and defense. We need a new program; we need this Freyja, so join us. It may seem that Ukraine is focused only on the war because we talk about defense, weapons, and sanctions, but Ukrainians did not choose this war. We would like to choose not to die
He also reported that Ukraine continues to expand international participation in the program. According to him, 10 countries have already joined Freyja; last week, Ukraine invited Poland to join the program and is also holding consultations with other allies.
We remain open to every country that can make its contribution to developing protection against ballistic missiles
Background
At the beginning of September, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy together with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a meeting with the heads of defense companies from partner countries devoted to implementing the Freyja antiballistic program. The meeting was attended by the heads of the defense companies FirePoint, Kongsberg, Weibel, Saab, Diehl Defence, Hensoldt, Thales, Safran, Sener, and Leonardo. The parties agreed on what leaders and government officials should do at their respective levels, and what manufacturers and developers should do at theirs.
What is Freyja
Freyja is a Ukraine-initiated project for a joint European antiballistic system, the first track of the Antiballistic Coalition, which includes 10 states and more than a dozen leading European defense companies. The system is intended to intercept Russian ballistic missiles.
The project is being built around the Ukrainian FP-7.x interceptor missile developed by Fire Point, while other components are supplied by European manufacturers. As Fire Point CEO and Technical Director Iryna Terekh told UNN, development has reached the stage of technical integration of the entire ecosystem—radars, a launcher, a data transmission channel, and a command center—and tests are being conducted up to twice a week.