Ukraine working on its own analogue of Patriot air defense system
Photo: Ukraine’s Minister for Strategic Industries Herman Smetanin (facebook.com/german.smetanin)
Ukraine’s defense sector and government are in talks with foreign partners and are also working on their own project to develop an analogue of the Patriot air defense system. Currently, the Patriot is supplied exclusively by the United States and remains the only system capable of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles, states Ukraine’s Minister for Strategic Industries Herman Smetanin during a conference on the defense industry’s performance in 2024.
“So far, there are no analogues to the Patriot air defense missile systems on the territory of Ukraine, but our defense industry has a corresponding project, and we are working on it,” Smetanin said.
As for other countries around the world capable of producing similar systems, the minister noted that such producers do exist, and Ukraine is already engaged in negotiations on partial localization.
“The United States has partners with whom it co-produces these systems. We’ve held a number of negotiations with manufacturers of similar systems, including the Patriot, regarding partial localization of their production in Ukraine. These talks are ongoing, and active work is underway,” Smetanin added.
Patriot for Ukraine
Ukraine is currently entirely dependent on the US for air defense systems capable of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles.
On April 6, Yurii Ihnat, head of the communications department of the Ukrainian Air Force Command, stated that, as of now, only American Patriot systems are capable of performing this function.
He made this comment following another air attack on Ukraine. Ihnat added that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had provided the US side with information to help upgrade the Patriot systems for better counteraction against ballistic threats.
In early March, the US temporarily suspended military aid to Ukraine for several days after the Ukrainian side initially refused to sign an agreement with the US on rare earth metals, which allegedly recognized multibillion-dollar debts owed by Kyiv to Washington.
