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Ukraine Set to Acquire 1,000 Patriot Missiles With EU Loan
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Ukraine is contracting with partners for about 1,000 Patriot interceptor missiles, while urging allies to provide missiles from existing stocks before the new deliveries arrive in the coming years.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Yevhenii Khmara announced the contracts at a Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting on September 8, Interfax-Ukraine reported.
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"We are concluding contracts for the supply of about 1,000 missiles for Patriot systems with our partners and using the EU loan," Khmara stated. He urged partners to approve necessary financing decisions by November to strengthen Ukraine's battlefield capabilities and air defenses this winter.
Khmara noted that most Patriot missiles covered by the contracts will only arrive over the next several years. Kyiv is therefore asking partners to transfer interceptors from their current inventories in exchange for upgraded missiles delivered later under Ukraine's contracts.
Ukraine also needs additional air-to-air missiles and man-portable air-defense systems to counter jet-powered Shahed-type drones, Khmara added. Some low-cost Ukrainian solutions designed to intercept high-speed drones are already undergoing combat testing.
The defense minister also placed the request within Ukraine's broader financing needs. He stated that the country's defense budget currently faces a $27 billion shortfall, with additional funding needed to maintain drone procurement through this year and into early 2027.
The Patriot contracting effort follows a European Commission decision clearing Ukraine's first formal request to finance US-made Patriot interceptors through the EU's $104.4 billion Ukraine Support Loan.
Earlier, on September 8, it was reported that Kyiv had requested more than $2.3 billion for the missiles, with the mechanism allowing purchases outside the EU when European suppliers cannot meet Ukraine's requirements.
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