Kyiv, 18 August (H.S.): Ukraine is facing a severe shortage of US-made Patriot interceptors as it continues its war against Russia, leaving it with very few missiles capable of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles. The Patriot interceptor is among the most sought-after air-defence weapons in the world, with dozens of countries seeking to strengthen their defence systems with the US-made technology. It is also one of the few weapons systems capable of intercepting ballistic missiles.
A CNN report showed a US Patriot interceptor system lying unused in a cornfield at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. Its canisters were reportedly empty, and the system had last been used about 10 weeks earlier. CNN said it was the first media outlet to receive conditional access to a Patriot system inside Ukrainian territory. Dmytro, the chief engineer of Ukraine's air-defence system, said he had not seen the Patriot launcher operating for six weeks.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Ukraine needs about 5 per cent of the US stockpile of Patriot interceptors to sustain its defence through the winter, while it currently has only around 1 per cent. Dmytro described the situation as deeply distressing, saying it was heartbreaking to have the equipment but be unable to intercept incoming missiles. He said ballistic missiles were passing overhead while Ukrainian forces were unable to respond effectively. According to him, the situation has existed since December 2025.
A global shortage of Patriot interceptors has emerged after heavy use of the systems in Gulf countries during March and April. According to the Foreign Policy Research Institute, coalition forces used an average of 225 interceptors every day during the first four days of the conflict with Iran. The institute said Lockheed Martin, one of the companies producing the interceptors, manufactured 620 in 2025, equivalent to about 1.7 per day. This has created a significant gap between the rate of consumption and production.
In January, the Pentagon entered into a seven-year agreement with Lockheed Martin aimed at increasing production to 2,000 interceptors annually by 2030. By that time, the war in Ukraine would have entered its eighth year.
It remains unclear how many Patriot interceptors the United States has pledged to provide to Ukraine or how large the US stockpile currently is. In an interview, Zelenskyy said he had offered Raytheon and Lockheed Martin ownership and control of any interceptor-manufacturing facility they might establish in Ukraine.
He said he had told the US companies, “This will be your company. It will have our minds, our hands and our engineers.” He added that he would make every effort to build an excellent company for them, stressing that Ukraine did not need to sell the interceptors to anyone else because it needed them for its own defence.
During the NATO summit held in Ankara in June, US President Donald Trump reportedly offered Ukraine a licence to manufacture interceptors. Teams from Raytheon and Lockheed Martin subsequently travelled to Kyiv to meet Zelenskyy. However, Trump later expressed doubts about whether the licensing process would move forward.
Zelenskyy said he wanted the arrangement to materialise and expressed hope that the proposal would ultimately receive approval. Responding to Zelenskyy's remarks, a White House official said no decision had been taken regarding Patriot interceptor production in Ukraine and that no guarantees had been provided.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
