Ukraine, Netherlands Developing Projects To Intercept Ballistic Missiles

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) Davyd Aloian, Deputy Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) and head of its Interagency Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation and Export Control Policy, said this in an exclusive comment to Ukrinform. He was attending the European Defense Innovation Forum (EDIF) in The Hague.

"Ukraine is working with partners to strengthen air defenses within the coalition initiated by the President of Ukraine. One of the areas is the FREYJA project. A number of other initiatives are also being developed to help counter aerial threats and reduce dependence on a single source of weapons supplies," he said.

Aloian also noted that Ukraine and the Netherlands are developing two air defense projects aimed at strengthening their capabilities to intercept ballistic missiles. One of them, FREYJA, is expected to deliver its first results as early as next year, while the Bliksem project will take longer to implement.

"Testing using simulation is scheduled to begin toward the end of this year, and we expect to have a system capable of intercepting ballistic threats in the first half of next year," he said.

Aloian added that Ukraine would also pursue other areas of cooperation with partners, including the development of systems that could strengthen its ability to counter various types of aerial threats.

He noted that despite the high effectiveness of U.S.-made Patriot systems, their large-scale use is constrained by limited production capacity.

Aloian cited Russian attacks on Kyiv as an example, noting that a single attack can involve around 40 ballistic missiles.

"Accordingly, if Kyiv is hit by around 40 ballistic missiles in a single attack, NATO doctrine calls for two interceptor missiles for each threat," he said.

The NSDC official also identified the development of systems to counter Russian jet-powered drones as another priority. Ukraine is upgrading its interceptor drones to increase their speed and effectiveness.

Aloian noted that joint production projects are already underway in the Netherlands and called on partners to expand this cooperation and purchase systems that have proven effective in combat on the front line.

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