Ukraine moves to practical work on ballistic missile defense - Zelenskyy spoke about two key projects
Kyiv • UNN
Ukraine is moving from political agreements to practical work on ballistic missile defense. Kyiv is simultaneously developing the pan-European Freyja shield project and producing its own analogues of the missile used by Patriot systems.
Ukraine is moving from political agreements to practical work on its own anti-ballistic capabilities, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Work is underway in two directions at once - the pan-European Freyja anti-ballistic shield and the production of a Ukrainian analogue of missiles for Patriot, reports UNN.
Details
Our anti-ballistic capabilities have several directions. The European direction is our joint Freyja project with Europe, and we are counting heavily on this program. The other direction is Raytheon. We are talking about the possibility of building a Ukrainian missile for the Patriot system. They view this idea positively. They selected a company that can do this - Fire Point. I met with Raytheon in the United States, and we agreed to move forward with this project. After that, they held their first technical meeting with the Ukrainian side regarding the details. Now we will wait for their response. I think we will receive it in the coming weeks. We will get an answer regarding the timeline and an understanding of whether it will succeed or not
In addition, the Freyja project is already moving from political agreements to practical work. European companies are beginning to join the technical implementation of the program directly.
The project has now moved from the leaders' positive reaction and willingness to work to the technical level. Companies are beginning to work in this direction in earnest
Earlier, Fire Point CEO Iryna Terekh told UNN that Freyja is at the stage of integrating key components into a single system—radars, a launcher, a command center, and the interceptor missile itself. Testing of individual system components is ongoing.
Russia plans to produce 1,300 ballistic missiles per year
Creating two options at once for Ukraine's anti-ballistic protection, which can be integrated into the European security system, is critically important. After all, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, Moscow seeks to reach a ballistic missile production rate of "100 per month," or approximately 1,300 per year. Ukraine has information that Russia currently has accumulated 600–630 ballistic missiles.
Russia could have up to 1,300 ballistic missiles per year. They currently have 600–630. We have an approximate understanding of the level they expect to reach from today through the end of winter. They could have approximately 100 ballistic missiles per month. They do not have that capability yet. We are working to weaken their military industry; there are relevant tasks involving strikes on military targets and other anti-ballistic sanctions
Thus, the third track of anti-ballistic protection for Ukraine is finding 300 missiles for the Patriot system. Obviously, Russia plans to use all those accumulated missiles to strike civilian populations and Ukrainian businesses.
I wanted to find 300 Patriot missiles for the winter package. The request from our Air Force is 360. But when 600 are produced per year, 360 is not easy. We are working with countries on additional possibilities. And I would very much like to believe that we will be able to find a way to obtain some small percentage of the U.S. stockpiles, say 5% or 10%. We are ready to pay for these supplies. In other words, America could replenish its stockpile, and we could get through the winter
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Fire Point is simultaneously expanding its own production base for missile programs. As the company's CEO Iryna Terekh previously said, at the end of 2027 the company plans to launch a solid rocket fuel plant in Denmark with a total area of more than 120,000 square meters.
The facility will be built in several stages. It is intended to supply fuel for FP-7 missiles, FP-7.x interceptors, and boosters for Flamingo. According to Terekh, locating part of the production capabilities in Denmark makes it possible to create a predictable base protected from Russian strikes for scaling up production.
According to Fire Point's estimate, once it reaches its planned capacity, the plant will be able to produce solid propellant each year for more than 4,100 FP-7 ballistic missiles or FP-7.x ballistic interceptors. During martial law, the company's products are primarily planned to be directed toward Ukraine's needs, while subsequently its production capabilities may also serve the European security system.