Ukraine is taking active steps toward establishing domestic production of critical air defense capabilities through a new cooperation initiative with the U.S. defense company Raytheon. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with a company delegation led by Vice President Joseph DeAntona, after which he announced that Ukraine and Raytheon would work together on the production of interceptor missiles for the Patriot air defense system.
The strategic agreement is intended to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense capabilities as the country continues to face large-scale aerial attacks during Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the initiative builds on earlier discussions with U.S. President Donald Trump in Ankara. In addition to the planned production of interceptor missiles, the two sides also discussed broader areas of defense cooperation.
“Raytheon is a highly capable defense company, and Ukraine has long relied on its systems to help protect our people from relentless Russian attacks,” the Ukrainian president wrote on X.
“I appreciate the company’s willingness to take our partnership to the next level by jointly producing some of the most critical air defense capabilities – interceptor missiles for the Patriot system. This is something President Trump and I discussed in Ankara, and now is the time to move forward with it.”
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The meeting also covered additional areas of cooperation involving non-offensive military equipment. “Our teams – both at the government level and within the private sector – will remain in close contact to finalize the necessary arrangements,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy added.
Earlier, Lockheed Martin unveiled a new, lower-cost interceptor missile for the Patriot air defense system that is intended to enter production more quickly while preserving the limited supply of PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptors for the most demanding ballistic missile threats. The new PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector (ACE) is expected to cost less than half as much as the PAC-3 MSE interceptor. According to recently released U.S. Army budget documents, a single PAC-3 MSE missile costs more than $4 million, suggesting that the ACE could be priced at under $2 million per missile.
Source: united24media
