Ukraine developing affordable analogue of Patriot together with European partners - Reuters

The Ukrainian company Fire Point, known for developing the Flamingo cruise missile, has begun negotiations with leading European defense companies on the creation of a new air defense system. This is reported by Reuters.

The goal of the project is to develop a complex for intercepting ballistic missiles, which would be significantly cheaper than the American Patriot systems.

The main task of the developers is to reduce the cost of one interception to less than USD 1 million. According to Fire Point co-founder Denys Shtilierman, current solutions are economically difficult, since several Patriot missiles costing several million dollars each are often used to destroy one target. "If we manage to reduce this amount to less than USD 1 million, this will be a breakthrough in air defense solutions. We plan to intercept the first ballistic missile at the end of 2027," he noted.

The creation of our own system is due to the shortage of Patriot complexes on the world market. As Fire Point engages foreign partners to develop radar and guidance systems, potential counter-agents include giants such as Hensoldt, SAAB, Thales, and Weibel. It is expected that the combination of European communications and radar technologies with Ukrainian developments will allow for the creation of an effective and budget-friendly defense product.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the CEO of the German defense concern Rheinmetall, Armin Papperger, stated that the United States of America, as well as countries in Europe and the Middle East, have almost completely exhausted their stockpiles of ammunition for air defense systems.