The President named the companies that will work on creating the FREYJA anti-ballistic shield
Kyiv • UNN
President Zelenskyy announced that the FREYJA project will involve the Ukrainian company Fire Point and European companies, including Thales, HENSOLDT, Saab.
In addition to the Ukrainian defense company Fire Point, the developer of the ballistic interceptor missile FP-7.x, a number of other European defense companies will work on the implementation of the joint European anti-ballistic defense project FREYJA. UNN reports this with reference to the speech of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the start of the Anti-Ballistic Coalition meeting.
"Today, representatives of FP (Fire Point - ed.), Thales, HENSOLDT, Diehl Defence, Saab, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, Weibel, Leonardo, MBDA, Eurosam, Safran, and Destinus have joined us. Everyone present here is part of what we need to create this system. I am grateful to the companies for their willingness to work together," the President stated.
According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine can provide its part – the anti-ballistic missile.
"We are currently finishing work on it. Others have radars and other critically important components. It is important that we join forces. Today, at the leaders' level, it is very important to politically confirm that FREYJA is our joint project," the head of state emphasized.
Context
Today, July 13, Ukraine and the leaders of nine European countries – Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Great Britain – signed a declaration on the creation of an Integrated Coalition on Missile Defense (Anti-Ballistic Coalition). The leaders of European countries recognized Ukraine's unique experience in countering Russian aggression and the need to strengthen Europe's defense. In the document, the leaders acknowledged the growing ballistic threat and "the importance of defense capabilities for the security of the European continent." The leaders announced the start of creating an exclusively defensive coalition on missile defense.
It was previously known that the project is named FREYJA and will be built on the basis of an interceptor missile developed by the Ukrainian defense company Fire Point.
Co-founder and chief designer of Fire Point, Denys Shtilerman, has already welcomed the founding of the Anti-Ballistic Coalition, which lays the groundwork for work on the joint project.
"The very fact of creating such a coalition is the beginning of Europe's true agency. And it is important that Ukraine here is not a supplicant, but one of the ten co-founders. Not a country that was 'taken under an umbrella,' but a state without which this shield is simply impossible. We are the only ones in Europe who, right now, in real conditions, shoot down Russian missiles and drones. Our experience and technologies are the foundation on which this entire architecture is built," he wrote on X.
Shtilerman once again emphasized that the system will be built on the principle of technological openness, which he advocates.
"No less important is that the coalition was based on a principle I have advocated for years: 'technological openness' and 'sovereign European solutions.' This is a direct signal — Europe no longer wants to be completely dependent on overseas supplies and others' 'red lines.' It is building a system where all participants are open to each other and have equal access. Not a hierarchy where someone dictates terms, but a partnership of equals," he wrote.
As Shtilerman previously explained, the key difference of the Freyja project is its independence from external control. According to him, modern Western air defense systems often operate in a closed architecture format, where the supplier country or manufacturer, in fact, retains control over critical elements of the system. It is expected that the project's architecture will be implemented in such a way that new partner countries can easily join it.
The Pan-European anti-ballistic shield Freyja was initially conceived as a system that would unite European partners. As President Zelenskyy noted, Ukraine is capable of independently creating such a system, but this will take years, because in addition to the FREYJA missile, it requires the integration of a whole range of components.
Even before signing the declaration on the creation of the Anti-Ballistic Coalition, the Ukrainian company Fire Point signed an agreement with the German radar manufacturer Hensoldt. From open sources, it is known that in addition to German long-range detection radars, the system will likely also include an illumination and guidance radar Weibel GFTR-2100/48 or Leonardo KRONOS Land. The command post is expected to be based on the Norwegian Kongsberg Fire Distribution Center system. One of the key features of the system will be an open architecture and the use of Network Access Nodes modules, which will allow the integration of additional solutions and components.
Data exchange between all elements of the complex will be carried out via the tactical Link 16 channel, standardized according to STANAG 5516. It is this protocol that should ensure the integration of Freyja into the already existing air defense system of Ukraine and other European countries.