Ukraine considers joint consortia for anti-ballistic missile defense and overcoming the shortage of Patriot missiles - media
Kyiv • UNN
Ukraine is considering the possibility of creating consortia with allies to develop air defense systems capable of shooting down ballistic missiles. This will also help overcome the shortage of ammunition for Patriot systems.
Ukraine is considering creating consortiums with its allies to build air defenses capable of shooting down ballistic missiles and overcoming a critical shortage of ammunition for US-made Patriot systems, said Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, UNN reports with reference to Reuters and Bloomberg.
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According to Fedorov, "Ukraine urgently needs air defense equipment and seeks to create joint consortiums with partners to increase the production of equipment aimed at stopping ballistic missiles," Bloomberg reports.
American Patriot missiles have been a central part of Ukraine's air defense arsenal, allowing its military to shoot down Kinzhal and Zircon missiles, which Russia claims are impossible to intercept, the publication notes.
Ukraine has significant potential to independently produce anti-ballistic systems and missiles. This requires a separate project - the math is complex and takes time. But Ukraine must develop its own capabilities
As Reuters notes, Fedorov said he discussed with Zelenskyy the idea of creating joint air defense ventures. Reuters could not determine whether negotiations with allies had already taken place, or which allies Kyiv had in mind.
Fedorov, a close ally of Zelenskyy, took over Ukraine's defense ministry last month after more than six years as deputy prime minister responsible for digital transformation and technology policy in the war-torn country. The 35-year-old official played a crucial role in securing critical technologies for the military, including billionaire Elon Musk's Starlink terminals and drones, Bloomberg notes.
This year, Ukraine reached an agreement with SpaceX to deactivate Russian terminals to address the problem of Russian drones equipped with Starlink devices. Russian troops fighting in Ukraine have faced communication problems due to Starlink outages, as well as the Kremlin's crackdown on the Telegram messenger.
According to Fedorov, the number of Russian real-time video transmissions has decreased 11-fold, while radio frequency intercepts have significantly increased.
"We have effectively cut Russia off from this communication," Fedorov said. "We have had numerous discussions with SpaceX. This issue concerns not only Russia's technological adaptation, but also preventing the aggressor from using Western technology against civilians."
Senior European diplomats told Bloomberg that they consider the impact of Russia's communication problems to be significant. "Some recent Ukrainian successes on the ground have been made possible by Russian soldiers losing access to Starlink," according to a NATO official.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said this month that Ukrainian forces were able to conduct some counterattacks, "likely taking advantage of recent disruptions to Russian Starlink and Telegram terminals."
Its analysts said that the inability to use the service particularly affects Moscow's offensive operations using drones, "preventing Russian forces from delivering these strikes at the same pace and depth as in previous weeks."