Nine European nations join Ukraine to build a homegrown anti-ballistic missile system that is cheaper, faster, and not dependent on Washington.
Ukraine is not waiting for the United States to solve its air defense problem. It is building its own solution, and Europe is joining in.
On July 13 in Paris, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and nine European leaders announced the Integrated Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition, a joint effort to “build a shared anti-ballistic missile capacity for Europe.” The members, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, committed to pooling technology, radars, launchers, and industrial capacity to produce a system Ukraine calls FREYJA.
FREYJA is built around the FP-7.x interceptor, a missile designed by the Ukrainian manufacturer Fire Point, a company founded in 2022 that already produces the Flamingo cruise missile and the FP-1 strike drone. The concept is straightforward: use a Ukrainian-made missile, European radars from companies like Germany’s Hensoldt, and European launcher and command systems from Saab, Diehl Defence, Thales, and Safran. The result, its backers say, will be “significantly cheaper and more scalable” than the American-made Patriot system.
“Each of us has important pieces,” Zelensky said. “Together, over the next 12 months, we can build this system at scale.”
The urgency is real. Russia has been firing ballistic missiles at Ukrainian cities with increasing intensity, and Ukraine has only one effective countermeasure: the Patriot system. Patriots have intercepted Russian Kinzhal and Iskander missiles repeatedly, but the supply is limited, and Trump’s war with Iran has drawn Patriot batteries to the Gulf, further squeezing availability.
“Patriot systems, right now, have been the only effective countermeasure to Russian ballistic missile strikes,” said Kateryna Stepanenko of the Institute for the Study of War.
Trump announced at the Ankara NATO summit in July that Ukraine would receive a license to manufacture Patriot interceptors, a significant step, but one that will take years to produce operational systems. FREYJA, by contrast, is designed to be operational within a year.
The coalition represents a shift in how Europe thinks about defense. For decades, European nations relied on American systems and American willingness to supply them. The Trump administration’s unpredictability, its threats to leave NATO, its reduction of support for Ukraine, its demands that Europe pay more, have made clear that dependence on Washington is a vulnerability. The FREYJA coalition is an attempt to build a European answer to a European problem, using Ukrainian battlefield experience and European industrial capacity.
The coalition also shows how Ukraine has transformed from a recipient of military aid into a defense technology innovator. Fire Point was founded after the 2022 invasion. It now produces missiles and drones that hit targets inside Russia. Its FREYJA design is being presented as the foundation of a continent-wide defense system.
The coalition members are expected to finalize the technical specifications, funding arrangements, and production timelines in the coming months. Zelensky also expects financial support from the European Union for the anti-ballistic missile program.
In parallel, Zelensky secured deals in Paris for licenses to manufacture AASM Hammer bombs, SCALP/Storm Shadow cruise missiles, and Aster-30 surface-to-air missiles. France committed to delivering 16 Rafale fighter jets.
“What we’re seeing is Ukraine and European partners trying to find solutions to a very acute problem,” Stepanenko said. “The more diverse our defense is, the harder it will be for our enemies to undermine security in Europe.”