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Defense Minister Yevhen Khmara and Commander-in-Chief Mykhailo Drapatyi met with a delegation from the U.S. defense company Lockheed Martin, the Defense Ministry said on Oct. 21, as Ukraine faces an increasingly severe shortage of Patriot interceptor missiles.
The meeting came as Russia intensifies its ballistic missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and elsewhere across Ukraine, posing an immense challenge to Ukrainian air defenses. Lockheed Martin manufactures PAC-3 interceptors used by the Patriot air-defense system, which can engage Russian ballistic missiles, and has supported the U.S. move to grant Ukraine a Patriot production license.
The soaring U.S.-Ukraine tensions have put further strain on Ukrainian air defense. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has yet to greenlight the transfer of a significant batch of Patriot missiles for Ukraine, Ukrainian officials and military officers told the Kyiv Independent.
The Defense Ministry said in its statement that Khmara and Drapatyi discussed "the importance of stable arms deliveries and further cooperation" with the Lockheed Martin delegation, led by Orlando Sanchez Jr., president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.
The meeting also included discussions to scale up the supply of PAC-3 interceptors in response to the Russian ballistic missile threat, according to the Defense Ministry.
"We look forward to mutually beneficial cooperation with Lockheed Martin for years to come," the Defense Ministry said on Telegram.
"Ukraine is ready to share its unique combat experience so that, together, we can make defense solutions more effective in the context of modern warfare."
Two days earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky met with the delegation in Kyiv, where he said both sides expressed readiness to bolster cooperation, including by strengthening Ukrainian air defense.