Ukraine has held talks on the localization of the production of European air defense systems and missiles.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyi noted that Ukraine must come to this conclusion.

“In negotiations with other partners, we discussed the localization of production in Ukraine. Localization of some air defense systems, localization of missiles for them,” Zelenskyi noted.

Ukraine has long been working towards the localization of Western air defense technologies.

In 2023, the US Department of Defense provided Ukraine with technical data to start local production of FrankenSAM air defense projects.

The projects are intended to expand Ukraine’s Soviet air defense system capabilities by integrating Western missiles.

In turn, Kongsberg, a Norwegian manufacturer of anti-aircraft systems, integrates interceptor missiles already produced in Ukraine into NASAMS systems.

The Ukrainian defense industry has a number of developments in its arsenal of anti-aircraft interceptors, ranging from the Coral to the R-27 or the promising UP-277.

It is not unlikely that Ukraine is discussing the localization of NASAMS air defense systems, with which it has been effectively protecting its skies for a long time.

It is also not unlikely that Ukraine is seeking to establish the production of British mobile air defense systems that use ASRAAM missiles.

This air defense system, which is mounted on the SupaCat chassis, is particularly effective against short-range targets.

The Ukrainian defense industry has recently developed an air defense missile system based on the HMMWV off-road vehicle. It is equipped with P-73 air-to-air guided missiles. In turn, Russian troops have started operating a new version of the Pantsir-SM-SV anti-aircraft missile and gun system.