FARNBOROUGH — The Pentagon is looking at options for how to license production of Patriot interceptors to Ukraine, but it’s too early to say when Kyiv will be able to start building its own missiles, a senior defense official told Breaking Defense last week.
“We’re evaluating a set of COAs [courses of action] right now, which include a mix of domestic and international sourcing for end units, where they’re going to be located, how we’re going to build it, [and] which variant,” said Michael Cadenazzi, the assistant secretary of defense for industrial policy.
Cadenazzi, who is also currently performing the duties of assistant secretary of defense for international armaments cooperation, said his team is working with the Army, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Defense Technology Security Administration, industry and other stakeholders on the effort.
“I think we’ve got a long way to go to sort of formalize that, but there is robust, well-resourced effort and a commitment to meet the president’s target for coming up with the plan,” he said July 22 on the sidelines of Farnborough Airshow.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump announced at the NATO summit in Ankara that the United States would give Ukraine a license to produce Patriot interceptors but gave few details, raising questions about the timeline and security considerations needed to allow Ukraine to begin building sensitive US technology during a hot war with Russia.
