Ukraine wants a prototype of a European anti-ballistic missile system ready by the first half of 2027, a senior official said in comments published on July 27.
Deputy secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, Davyd Aloian, who oversees the project, codenamed Freyja, told Reuters that an international steering committee tasked with estimating the research and development costs was due to meet for the first time soon.
“Since we’re working within such a tight timeframe, we have an ambitious goal: to have an MVP (minimum viable product) ready by the first half of next year,” Aloian said.
“That is a prototype that can already demonstrate its first practical results.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X on July 27 that Patriots “are not offensive missiles.”
“We found money in Europe to purchase them from the United States, but still, we don’t have enough of these missiles. This is a problem, as there have not been enough sanctions on Russia’s military production, and they can ramp up the production of ballistic missiles,” he said.
Zelenskyy added that this was why Kyiv needed air defense “as quickly as possible,” and that there was an added issue to getting Patriots due to “the situation in the Middle East.”
The Patriot air-defense system is designed to shoot down tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and aircraft, and has been heavily relied on by Ukraine for the bulk of the war.
But Kyiv has struggled in recent times to secure enough interceptors from its Western allies to defend itself against the constant Russian missile and drone barrage.
Moscow has also stepped up its ballistic strikes on the capital Kyiv and the port of Odesa in recent months, with Ukraine unable to down them due to a lack of interceptors.
Ukraine is ready to provide the Freyja project with a launcher and an interceptor missile, which Zelenskyy described this month as just a “matter of testing”.
Shtilierman said the test had been “pretty successful,” adding that mass production could begin as soon as August but is contingent on the company taking delivery of an infrared seeker for guidance, which Fire Point was hoping to source from Germany’s Diehl Defence.
He said that the completed missiles would be ready for use in theater by 2027.
The rest of the air defense system, including radars used to detect and target aircraft and the command-and-control system, will come from European partners.
“Finishing this depends on the speed of our western partners and when they start moving,” Shtilierman said.
The meeting included the leaders of Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.
“Our goal is to build a shared ballistic missile defense capability for Europe,” the coalition said in the joint statement.
“We believe that protecting Europe requires a comprehensive solution, in the form of an integrated missile defense architecture, to deter and neutralize future missile threats.”
It also recognized Ukraine’s “unique experience” in countering ballistic missiles over the past four years following Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
Defense companies that have joined the effort so far include Eurosam, Leonardo, Thales, and Saab, among others.
Fire Point will be the lead industrial partner on the project, and on June 16, announced a deal with German defense manufacturer Hensoldt to provide radar.
“The overall logic of this system is that it’s an open architecture,” Aloian said.
“So if Denmark says ‘I want the Freyja system with a Danish-made Weibel radar,’ that’s fine. If Sweden says they want the Saab system, that’s no problem either.”
