In a significant move to bolster Ukraine’s air defense capabilities, the United States is working with Ukraine to design and build substitutes for Soviet-era air defense systems. This collaboration, which also involves several European companies, was announced by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the 24th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in the Ramstein format on 6 September 2024, Militarnyi informs.
While Ukraine has successfully launched massive production of drones, various types of munitions, and vehicles for ground forces, air defense production was nearly absent, making Ukraine dependent on Western supplies of air defense munitions after its own stockpile ended.
While Secretary Austin did not provide specific details, experts believe the focus is on developing an analog of the Soviet-era anti-aircraft missile that could be used with Ukraine’s existing systems, such as the S-300. This development comes at a crucial time, as Ukraine faces an acute shortage of anti-aircraft missiles for its S-300 systems despite still possessing a significant number of these launchers.
The shortage stems from the fact that the 5V55 missiles used in these systems are no longer in production and are unavailable on the world market. Ukraine’s defense industry had already been working on modernizing and partially localizing the production of S-300 system elements, including mastering the repair of 5V55 missiles and developing a Ukrainian-made replacement for the original 48D6 engine.
Regarding the R-27 air-to-air missile replacement, Ukraine has been developing its own designs for a medium-range air-to-air missile with a radar seeker. One such project is the UP-277 missile, first presented in 2021.
This US-Ukraine collaboration appears to prioritize replacing scarce Soviet-era missile models to ensure Ukraine can continue using its existing defense systems effectively. The initiative underscores the ongoing Western support for Ukraine’s defense capabilities and the need for innovative solutions to maintain and upgrade Soviet-era equipment still in use by the Ukrainian military.
As the war with Russia continues, this development represents a critical step in enhancing Ukraine’s air defense capabilities and reducing its dependence on increasingly scarce Soviet-era munitions in the long term.
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