Ukraine has conducted negotiations regarding the localization of European air defense systems and missiles, according to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The President noted that this development is crucial for Ukraine:
“In negotiations with other partners, we talked about localizing production in Ukraine. Localizing some air defense systems, localizing missiles for them,” Zelenskyy said on 28 March.
Militarnyi notes that Ukraine has been working for an extended period toward localizing western air defense technologies. In 2023, the US Department of Defense provided Ukraine with technical data to begin local production of FrankenSAM air defense projects.
These projects aim to expand the capabilities of Ukraine’s Soviet-era air defense systems by integrating western missiles onto them. The Ukrainian Air Force has already deployed modernized Buk-M1 mobile firing units with RIM-7 missiles as part of the FrankenSAM project.
Earlier, it was reported that Norwegian air defense systems manufacturer Kongsberg was integrating interceptor missiles of Ukrainian production into NASAMS systems.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian defense-industrial complex has been developing several interceptor solutions, from the Koral surface-to-air missile to the aircraft missiles, R-27 and the promising UP-277.
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