Ukraine wants prototype of European missile defence system by mid-2027, official says

Ukraine wants a prototype for a European anti-ballistic system codenamed Freyja to be ready within the first half of next year, a senior official said, Report infortms via Reuters.

Davyd Aloian, deputy secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, who oversees the Freyja project, said ‌that an international steering committee tasked with estimating the research and development costs was due to convene for the first time soon.

Leaders from 10 European countries, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as around a dozen defence manufacturers, gathered at a summit in Paris two weeks ago to officially launch the ​anti-ballistic coalition.

"Since we're working within such a tight timeframe, we have an ambitious goal: to have an MVP (minimum viable product) ​ready by the first half of next year," Aloian said.

"That is a prototype that can already ⁠demonstrate its first practical results."

Ukraine is chronically dependent on US-made Patriot air defence systems, which is the only weapon in its arsenal ​capable of reliably downing Russia's ballistic missiles, which travel at several times the speed of sound.