Europe launches anti-ballistic coalition with Ukraine

Leading European defense companies have already joined the project, including Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, Thales, Safran, MBDA, Eurosam, Saab, Diehl Defence, Weibel Scientific, Fire Point, HENSOLDT, Sener, and Leonardo.

According to Ukrinform, this was stated in an explainer on the Anti-Ballistic Coalition published on the Facebook page of Rustem Umerov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, CE Report quotes Ukrinform.

On July 13 in France, President Volodymyr Zelensky, together with the leaders of partner countries, launched the Integrated Anti-Ballistic Coalition.

The Coalition currently includes 10 countries: Ukraine, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

The initiative remains open to other countries that share its principles and are willing to contribute.

According to the explainer, Russia is increasingly using ballistic missiles to attack Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure. At the same time, cooperation between Russia, Iran, and North Korea in missile technology development continues to deepen, creating new security threats not only for Ukraine but for Europe as a whole. For this reason, Europe must develop its own modern anti-ballistic defense system.

Cooperation within the Coalition will take place on three levels: political, governmental, and industrial. Participating countries will jointly define the requirements for the new system, conduct research, develop and manufacture new technologies, test them, and put them into operation.

The statement emphasizes that one of the project's most significant features is that companies that were competitors until recently are now combining their technologies and expertise to achieve a common goal: building a reliable shield for Europe's skies.

Regarding Ukraine's contribution, the statement says:

"Ukraine is prepared to provide one of the key elements of the future system – an anti-ballistic interceptor missile. Our partners, in turn, possess advanced radars, sensors, and other critical components. Combining these capabilities will make it possible to deliver the joint FREYJA project."

The uniqueness of the project, the statement adds, is that FREYJA is not intended to replace existing air and missile defense systems. Instead, it will complement them by creating a unified European anti-ballistic shield, enabling Ukraine and Europe to strengthen their security more quickly, effectively, and cost-efficiently.

As previously reported, President Volodymyr Zelensky told a meeting of the Anti-Ballistic Coalition that the demand for protection against ballistic missiles already exceeds existing capabilities. Ukraine and its European partners are therefore working to develop the joint FREYJA anti-ballistic system, which could become operational within a year.

Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine