President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced the country's intention to test the first European anti-ballistic missile defense system during the winter period. The head of state made this statement during a meeting in Denmark, where cooperation with the Danish defense industry and European partners on new defense projects was discussed.
Statement at the meeting in Denmark
"I hope that in the winter we will test the first European anti-ballistic defense system," Zelenskyy said, thanking the Danish defense industry and partners for their joint work on new projects. According to the president, Ukraine is focused on developing a counter-ballistic missile system, but the country cannot implement this project alone and relies on the support of its allies.
Previous exoatmospheric system tests
As RBC-Ukraine recalls, Ukraine has already conducted at least three tests of exoatmospheric systems capable of intercepting ballistic missiles in near space. This was previously reported by the British publication The Guardian. These tests have become an important stage in the development of Kyiv's national and European defense capabilities.
Funding is a key problem
At the same time, Fedir Venislavskyi, head of the Verkhovna Rada subcommittee on state security, defense, and defense innovations, admitted that funding will be a significant issue for the program's implementation. Without a steady flow of funds, even with technical prototypes, bringing the system to combat readiness could prove difficult.
The FREYJA program and initial results
Earlier, following a meeting with Norwegian Defense Minister Tore Sandvik, Zelenskyy spoke about the initial results in creating the European anti-ballistic program FREYJA. The president reported that there are already concrete achievements regarding individual elements of the system, and testing is planned to begin by the end of 2026. Thus, the winter tests discussed at the Danish meeting could become the first public confirmation of the performance of key FREYJA components.
