Zelensky: Patriot Production Will Take Years
American defense firms Raytheon and Lockheed Martin fear Ukraine could improve and produce missiles more cheaply, The Atlantic reveals.
American defense firms Raytheon and Lockheed Martin fear Ukraine could improve and produce missiles more cheaply, The Atlantic reveals.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that establishing production of Patriot air defense systems, after obtaining a license from the United States, will take from one to several years. At the same time, he complained about bureaucracy in the US and Europe and admitted that Ukraine, even with a license, lacks sufficient resources for full-scale production.
The background to these statements reveals a complex relationship between Kyiv's needs and the interests of the American defense industry. According to The Atlantic, American defense giants Raytheon and Lockheed Martin fear that if Ukraine obtains a license, it could improve Patriot interceptor missiles and produce them faster and significantly cheaper than existing production lines in the US.
The companies' public justification for caution in granting the license, according to the same source, is "risks of intellectual property theft and unauthorized technology transfer." However, a Republican official on Capitol Hill revealed to The Atlantic the real reason for concern. "The Ukrainians will find a way to improve the Patriot, and then produce them en masse and much cheaper than existing lines in the US," he said.
The issue of licensing production of interceptor missiles for Patriot systems was raised by Zelensky during a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on July 28, 2026. Alongside a long-term licensing agreement, the Ukrainian side also requested an urgent delivery of "several hundred" missiles from existing US stockpiles.
Trump refused the delivery, citing limited stockpiles and US priorities in the Middle East. According to data from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the US has spent about two-thirds of its Patriot system stockpiles in the war against Iran over the past six months. Just two days after the meeting, Trump called the Patriot an "extraordinary weapon" in an interview with the Financial Times and added that "we must be careful about who we give a license to."
Analysts at The Atlantic note that Ukraine's military-industrial capacity has significantly increased, making the country less dependent on direct aid. As an illustration, they cite the fact that Ukraine currently produces about 10 million unmanned aerial vehicles annually, while the US produces 100,000.
Despite the long-term potential, Zelensky stated on August 8 that Ukraine has an agreement with the US on monthly deliveries of Patriot missiles, but the quantities are insufficient for Ukraine's air defense needs. The Atlantic emphasizes that even in the case of a positive licensing decision, establishing mass production would take years.
The urgency of Ukraine's requests is further underscored by ongoing Russian attacks. According to reports Zelensky received on August 9 from Serhiy Koretsky, Mykhailo Drapatyi, and Viktor Mykyta, eight people were injured in attacks on Odesa, and residential buildings and the port were damaged. In Kharkiv, a direct drone strike destroyed four floors of a residential building, killing two people and wounding dozens. In Pavlohrad, nine people were injured in an attack near a shopping center, including four children.
Zelensky emphasized the scale of the terror: in the past week alone, 61 missiles of various types were used against Ukraine, 56 of which flew on a ballistic trajectory, along with more than 1,560 attack drones and 1,540 aerial bombs. "Every such attack on human life serves as a constant reminder, we need more pressure, more sanctions against Russia, and more air defense for Ukraine," he said. At the same time, he thanked the Armed Forces and the Security Service of Ukraine for operations targeting Russian oil refineries, air defense systems, and infrastructure in the Azov and Black Seas.
