Ukraine plans to test the FREYJA anti-ballistic system by the end of 2026 - Zelenskyy
Kyiv • UNN
Ukraine and its European partners plan to test the FREYJA anti-ballistic system by the end of 2026. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported on the initial results of the development and Norway’s active participation in the project.
Ukraine, together with its European partners, plans to conduct the first tests of the FREYJA anti-ballistic system by the end of 2026. As President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported, developers have already achieved the first results in creating individual components of the system, while Norway is actively involved in implementing the project, UNN writes.
Details
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported on a new stage in the implementation of the pan-European FREYJA anti-ballistic shield project following a meeting with Norway’s Minister of Defence Tore Sandvik, Kongsberg CEO Eirik Lie, and representatives of the corporation. According to the head of state, Norway is playing an active role in creating the future missile defence system.
Norway is also actively participating in our European FREYJA anti-ballistic programme. There are already initial results in creating individual elements of the system. Today, we determined where we can and must accelerate in order to begin testing by the end of this year. We also discussed in detail the launch of work on new satellite communications capabilities for our soldiers. We will involve partners that have the capabilities to provide support
Zelenskyy separately highlighted the contribution of Norwegian company Kongsberg, which manufactures NASAMS air defence systems. These systems protect Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure from Russian missile and drone attacks every day. The head of state also expressed hope that partners would provide additional packages of defence assistance next month.
Ukraine has already completed its part of the work on FREYJA
Earlier, Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that Ukraine had completed its part of the work on the FREYJA anti-ballistic project. At the same time, European partners continue to carry out their own tasks.
The President of Ukraine stressed that creating anti-ballistic systems is an extremely complex technological process that usually takes decades. However, due to the ongoing threat of Russian ballistic strikes, Ukraine seeks to significantly shorten the development timeline.
Background
FREYJA is a Ukraine-initiated pan-European anti-ballistic shield project intended to protect Ukrainian cities from Russian ballistic missiles. To implement it, Ukraine and its European partners established the Anti-Ballistic Coalition, which brought together 10 countries and leading defence companies. The joint efforts are aimed at developing indigenous missile defence technologies and establishing their mass production.
The foundation of the future system is the Ukrainian FP-7.x interceptor missile, being developed by Ukrainian defence company Fire Point. The project envisages integrating the Ukrainian missile with European technologies, including German radar systems and Norwegian guidance technologies.
As UNN previously reported, Fire Point CEO Iryna Terekh said that development of FREYJA had already moved to the stage of technical integration of the entire ecosystem—radars, the launcher, data transmission channels, and the command centre. According to her, technical tests of individual components are conducted up to twice a week.