On August 8 (local time), according to TASS news agency, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the country needs at least 12 months, or even several years, to start producing the Patriot air defense system if it is licensed by the US.
Answering questions about the necessary time to start production operations, Mr. Zelensky said that this process could take "from 12 months to several years".
According to the Ukrainian leader, Kiev first needs to be granted the necessary licenses to produce Patriot. He said that licensing must comply with separate procedures and regulations in many countries.
Ukraine needs corresponding licenses. There are certain procedures and regulations in other countries, not only in the US but also in Europe," Zelensky said on Ukrainian television.
However, even in the event of being licensed to produce Patriot, Ukraine still cannot self-manufacture interceptor missiles for this system.
Patriot is one of the main air defense systems manufactured by the US, used by Ukraine in the air defense network to deal with missile and unmanned aerial vehicles attacks. The self-production of this system is seen by Kiev as a direction to increase the proactiveness of equipment and reduce dependence on foreign supply.
Previously, at a meeting with Mr. Zelensky on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara in June, US President Donald Trump said that the possibility of transferring Patriot production licenses to Ukraine could be considered.
However, by the end of July, Mr. Trump seemed to change his views. The US President told reporters that Washington has not agreed to allow Kiev to produce Patriot missiles, and said that the US needs to be "very cautious" when considering letting another country self-produce this type of weapon.
Mr. Zelensky's latest statements show that Ukraine's ability to self-produce Patriot still depends on the US licensing decision and related procedures in Europe. Even if these conditions are met, Kiev will also need more time to build production capacity.
Notably, the inability to produce interceptor missiles on its own means that Ukraine still has to rely on supply from foreign partners for an important component of the Patriot system.
