Ukraine aims to match drone production scale with new missile program
Ukraine's Defense Ministry is advancing a missile program, having secured verbal commitments of funding support from international partners. Minister Umierov expects written confirmations soon and aims to scale missile production to match that of drones.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry secured verbal funding commitments from its partners for the country’s missile development program, Defense Minister Rustem Umierov announced on 21 September during a national telethon, according to Liga.
According to Umierov, the ministry has taken the lead in this initiative this year, crafting what he described as a “sufficiently powerful” missile program.
“We have already shared it [the program] with partners and are waiting to see how much of that capacity (which we can build missiles and drones or missile-drones) they will support,” Umierov stated.
The minister emphasized that partners have already given verbal agreement to finance this program, and Ukraine expects to receive “final written responses” from them in the near future.
Regarding the scale of missile production, Umierov asserted that “everything possible” is being done to bring the missile program’s quantity close to that of Ukraine’s drone program.
This development follows President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s announcement in early August, after a meeting of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief’s Staff, that additional funds would be directed towards Ukraine’s missile program, promising “more missiles.”
In August, Zelenskyy reported that Ukrainian military forces had used a new weapon, the Palianytsia missile-drone, against Russian forces on Independence Day for the first time. The Minister of Digital Transformation later stated that one “Palianytsia” costs less than $1 million.
Furthermore, in late August, Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine had created its first ballistic missile, which had successfully passed tests. The announcement might imply Ukraine’s operational-tactical missile complex “Hrim-2” (“Sapsan”), a long-term Ukrainian project that MoD promised to revive back in 2022.
Related:
- Politico: Biden deliberates on Ukraine’s missile use in Russia as nuclear plants face rising threats
- 500km game-changer: Ukraine’s ballistic missile breakthrough can alter war dynamics
- Lithuania to provide Ukraine with extra €40-50 mn military aid this year
- Ukrainian experimental interceptor drone hits 325 km/h
- Airfield assassin: Ukraine’s Palianytsia drone threatens Russian rear
- Reuters: US close to agreeing on JASSM long-range missiles for Ukraine
- Ukraine approves missile program targeting 1,000+ km range – Defense Minister
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