President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced that Ukraine expects to obtain the technical capability to produce missiles for the American Patriot air defense systems by the end of 2026.
The President explained that they were working on Patriot licenses. He recalled that they had a political agreement and noted that they expected to obtain the capability to technically produce their missiles American missiles of their strength with a Ukrainian team by the end of 2026.
Zelenskyy also pointed out that Ukraine had reached agreements with France and Italy on developing the production of missiles for European air defense systems.
He elaborated that they had a separate agreement with the European Union, specifically with France and Italy, as those countries issued permits for SAMP/T production. He mentioned that they had reached an agreement with the French side, which the Italian side had supported, regarding SCALP and Aster 30 missiles, as well as the next-generation SAMP/T.
Furthermore, Zelenskyy added that Ukraine was implementing its own project for the European anti-ballistic system FREYJA. Under this initiative, the Ukrainian side was developing a launcher and a missile, while partners were expected to provide other components, primarily radars.
He explained that Ukraine was building the launcher and the missile but still lacked other parts, especially radars. He noted that they had already united eight countries in this initiative and had identified the companies that could technologically resolve the radar issue quickly.
According to the President, the coordination of work on the anti-ballistic direction was being carried out by the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC).
He stated that the NSDC had assembled the anti-ballistic coalition and that the Secretary of the NSDC, Rustem Umerov, was responsible for this. He described a trilateral format consisting of a leader, a national security advisor (the Secretary of the NSDC in Ukraine’s case), and the companies providing various parts of the anti-ballistic system.
Zelenskyy concluded by noting that the first meeting in this format had already taken place in France, and the next stage would involve coordinating the timeline for the project’s implementation. He added that successful testing remained a key issue for Ukrainian developments.
