03.03.2025, Washington.
Ukraine and its European allies are attempting to replace US air defense systems with European ones following unsuccessful negotiations between Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky and US President Donald Trump at the White House, Forbes reports on March 2.
Forbes wrote that Ukraine and its allies are scrambling to replace the most critical US-made weaponry, including air defense missiles.
Virtually any weaponry, except for air defense systems, Ukraine can either produce itself or purchase from Europeans. The US is practically a monopoly in the production of surface-to-air missiles and the launchers and radars that support them.
It is reported that the development of the fully Ukrainian long-range air defense system SD-300 will eventually be completed and put into mass production. However, this cannot be relied upon, meaning Europe will have to supply Ukraine with fully European Patriot-class air defense systems.
The report states that the UK may supply Ukraine with 5,000 short-range Martlet air defense missiles on credit, produced by the French company Thales. The Norwegian company Kongsberg has announced that it will produce surface-to-air missiles for 13 Ukrainian NASAMS medium-range air defense batteries in cooperation with Ukraine.
The publication claims that the European counterpart to the US Patriot is the SAMP/T system. The Ukrainian armed units already have two SAMP/T systems and will need hundreds of Aster missiles for them.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
