Discussions have begun in Ukraine about developing a domestic air defense system capable of countering ballistic missiles as a “cheaper alternative to Patriot.” In a comment to Reuters, Denys Shtilerman said he is already in talks with European partners and expects results in the coming years.
As writes blogger Volodymyr Bondarenko, these statements come at a time when the US may cut Patriot supplies — the only system that really shoots down ballistic missiles. That is, the risk of being left without protection is real right now.
Against this background, promises to quickly make «our own Patriot» look like a bid for tens of billions of budget money. Serious money is already circulating in this segment.
Shtilerman’s assistant Iryna Terekh creates «Stellar Jet» in 2024 — and already in 2025 receives 5.3 billion UAH in revenue and 3.4 billion UAH in net profit. This is 64% profitability during the war. And this is just one company from the pool.
In the end, we have a simple construction: the country risks being left without real air defence, instead they sell it a story about a «cheaper Patriot», under which a market with billion-dollar profits is already being formed.
