Zelenskyy said Ukraine is working through the licensing process needed to enable production and recalled that a political agreement on the issue was already in place. He framed the goal as building real Ukrainian technical capacity rather than simply assembling foreign-supplied components.
The location of early production remains separate from the question of technical readiness. Citing sources familiar with the discussions, Reuters reported that the new Patriot interceptors would most likely be manufactured in Germany or another European country considered safer than Ukraine during the war.
“The new interceptors would likely be produced in Germany or another European country where it is safer, with production possibly moving to Ukraine after the war ends,” according to two sources cited by Reuters. Germany is viewed as well placed to support the project because it has already developed its own production line for PAC-2 interceptor missiles.
The Patriot plan is part of a wider Ukrainian effort to diversify and localise air defence production. Zelenskyy said Ukraine has reached separate agreements with France and Italy covering missiles for European air defence systems, linked to a broader European Union arrangement under which both countries have issued permits for SAMP/T production.
He said the cooperation with France, later supported by Italy, covers SCALP and Aster 30 missiles, as well as the next-generation SAMP/T system. The agreements point to Kyiv’s attempt to move production of European-made defence systems closer to Ukraine’s own industrial base.
Ukraine is also pursuing FREYJA, a European anti-ballistic system project in which Kyiv is responsible for developing the launcher and missile. Zelenskyy said international partners are expected to provide other key components, especially radar systems.
He said Ukraine still lacks several parts of the system, but that eight countries have joined the initiative and companies able to address the radar gap quickly have been identified. The work is being coordinated by Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council under its Secretary, Rustem Umerov.
Zelenskyy described the format as a trilateral structure bringing together a national leader, a national security adviser and companies supplying individual system components. He said the first meeting had already taken place in France, with the next phase focused on setting an implementation timeline.
The combined Patriot, SAMP/T and FREYJA tracks show how Ukraine is trying to turn wartime demand into a longer-term air defence industrial strategy. Successful testing remains a central issue as Kyiv works to expand domestic and European-backed production of systems needed to counter Russian missile and drone attacks.
