MOSCOW, August 4. /TASS/. Kiev should not count on the US expanding production of the Patriot and THAAD interceptor missiles, Nikolay Novik, an expert at the Institute for Global Military Economics and Strategy at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, told TASS, adding that agreements concluded by the Pentagon will not lead to increased deliveries to Ukraine in the coming months, which is why the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) program remains the primary mechanism for Kiev to obtain them.
The Pentagon previously announced the signing of framework agreements with Northrop Grumman totaling $3 bln. The execution of these contracts will eventually allow for an around threefold increase in the production volume of the PAC-3 missiles for the Patriot systems and a fourfold rise for THAAD system components.
"The seven-year timeframe of new contracts means that the actual increase in output will occur in 2027-2028, not in the coming months. Therefore, the PURL mechanism, which handles approximately 95% of the supplied missiles, remains the only effective channel for Ukraine. Over the year the program has been in operation, 29 countries have contributed $6.7 bln to it," the expert said.
