Ukraine working on its own analogue of Patriot air defense system

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, states Ukraine’s Minister for Strategic Industries Herman Smetanin during a conference on the defense industry’s performance in 2024, Report informs via RBC-Ukraine.

Currently, the Patriot is supplied exclusively by the United States and remains the only system capable of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles.

“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.