Ukraine war briefing: Cut-price Patriot among options in desperate search for missile defence

The brief

Ukraine is exploring options for missile defence, including a lower-cost Patriot interceptor, the PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector (ACE) missile. The US is considering a plan to produce some components in Ukraine and assemble them in Germany, where an older Patriot model is already made. This move comes as Ukraine faces heavy Russian bombardment, with at least 17 people killed in recent attacks. Ukrainian forces are struggling to shoot down Russian missiles due to a lack of suitable interceptors. The production of the new Patriot model could take a year or more to come to fruition, with officials cautioning that new component lines typically take three to seven years to establish.

Auto-summarised from the full article