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    Ukraine develops cheaper alternative to Patriot missiles for air defense
    Ukraine

    Ukraine develops cheaper alternative to Patriot missiles for air defense

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    8 Comments

    1. mabiturm on

      Great, now lets set up production lines all over europe, both for ukraine and europe

    3. WinstonSalemSmith on

      One Patriot system costs at least 300 mln USD, one rocket costs at least 4 mln USD.

    4. StickyThickStick on

      I can’t judge how good it is but ukraine seems to have developed into Europes top arms manufacturer.

      Sure French, German or British systems often are better but they’re so costly that they aren’t feasible in an all out conflict.

    5. furyandtempest on

      You have to…. Each Patriot missile easily cost millions $$$. You have the brains, you have the experience, you have the expertise, you have a test ground and war!

      Instead of relying on someone and your balls get squeezed, you be better off doing it yourself!

      You determine your outcome!

    6. Ben_C17 on

      The interesting part nobody’s mentioning: “cheaper alternative to Patriot” almost certainly means you’re trading capability for cost. Patriots are long-range, ABM-capable interceptors designed for high-value targets. A cheaper alternative probably means shorter range, no ballistic missile defense, optimized for cruise missiles and drones. Which is fine most of what Ukraine shoots down doesn’t need a $4 million missile.

      Ukraine started fast-tracking domestic systems in late 2023 when it became clear Western production ramp-up would be glacial. We’ve been tracking that shift at panopsik.com multiple startups got pushed through testing in months instead of years. The logic is simple: better to have 10 adequate interceptors than to wait for 2 perfect ones.

      The real question is integration. Patriots talk to IBCS, to NASAMS, to the whole NATO architecture. Does this new system plug into that network or does it create another data silo Ukraine’s air defense has to manage separately? That integration work is where timelines usually collapse.