Ukraine’s scramble to secure critical air defenses stalls
Kyiv is pressing allies for more interceptors and cash — but so far its efforts are coming up short.
Ukraine is struggling to protect its airspace from Russian missile attacks, as it runs out of options and funds to secure new interceptors. In a bid to secure air defense equipment and cash, Kyiv has launched a fresh campaign asking Western partners. However, meetings between EU defense ministers and NATO ambassadors have yielded no results, as countries holding stocks of interceptors refuse to lend them to Ukraine.
The U.S. is also facing a shortage of interceptors, while production of missile interceptors is backlogged. With no new sources of interceptors, Ukraine's stocks of Patriots are effectively depleted, leaving NATO's PURL scheme as the "only credible source" of Patriots. Kyiv's stocks of Patriots are at zero, and NATO's PURL scheme only provides roughly "10 to 20 missiles per month."
Russia is also deploying upgraded jet-powered Shahed drones, which are difficult to shoot down. Ukraine has developed prototypes to tackle the new drones but relies on limited stocks of expensive anti-aircraft missiles and artillery systems. Kyiv has set three priorities for European countries: air defense equipment, investments in the country's drone and missile production, and long-range artillery.
Germany, Poland, Romania, Spain, and the Netherlands have transferred battery components or missiles to Ukraine, while Greece and Sweden have not publicly transferred any. Germany, France, and Italy are expected to deliver new IRIS-T air defense missiles to Ukraine soon.
Written by urgent.news from Politico EU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
