In Norse mythology, Freyja is known as the goddess of war, love and beauty. "A strange combination, until you look at Ukraine today, where all three coexist," writes Iryna Terekh, CEO of Ukrainian defence company Fire Point, on X.
She continues, saying that those "shared values run across this continent, from the Baltic to the Black Sea", referencing the Joint Declaration on the Establishment of the Integrated Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition, which names Freyja as its flagship programme, signed by the Coalition of the Willing in Paris on Monday last week.
The idea is to create a lower-cost, modular missile-defence system by combining Ukraine's combat and wartime experience with European technology and industry.
Instead of relying on a single manufacturer, different countries would contribute individual components – from interceptor missiles to radars and command systems – to build what participating governments describe as an integrated European missile-defence architecture that complements existing systems, such as the US Patriot air defence system.
Just a year ago, Freyja was little more than a concept put forward by Fire Point. The Ukrainian defence company rose to prominence with its long-range cruise missile FP-5 "Flamingo", which has been used by Kyiv to carry out deep strikes against targets inside Russia.
