License for Patriot: What are US defense giants worried about?
American manufacturers of Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems - Raytheon and Lockheed Martin - are concerned about the possibility of Ukraine being granted a license to produce missiles for these systems. According to The Atlantic, the companies have the ability to improve Kiev's missiles and then produce them faster, in greater quantities and cheaper than on production lines in the United States
Patriot license: what are US defense giants worried about?
The issue of granting Ukraine a license to produce Patriot systems is causing serious concerns among US defense companies. This was reported by one of the Republican politicians in the US Congress, who supports the granting of a license to Ukraine.
According to him, American defense companies can officially explain their objections by the threat of intellectual property theft and transfer of technologies to third parties. However, another important aspect of the issue is the possibility of Ukraine improving the production process of Patriot missiles and producing them in large quantities and at a relatively low cost.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on August 8 that in the first year of the war, he had already asked then US President Joe Biden to issue licenses to produce Patriot systems. Zelensky said that an agreement has now been reached with Donald Trump on the issuance of the relevant licenses. At the same time, he noted that the situation could have been different if Ukraine had been given such an opportunity four years ago.
The Ukrainian leader criticized the bureaucratic processes currently underway in this matter. According to him, the process of issuing documents for licenses is taking time, while real missiles are flying to Ukraine. Zelensky said that the issue of obtaining licenses for certain military technologies and weapons has been discussed with European countries for a long time.
According to Tim Zadorozhny, a journalist for The Kyiv Independent, Zelensky raised the issue of Patriot licenses in the last months of the Biden administration. According to The Atlantic, senior Ukrainian officials may have presented this proposal to then-US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. However, Kiev's proposal was rejected without explaining the reasons.
According to the publication, Ukraine may also have the opportunity to produce missiles for Patriot in excess of its needs. Such missiles can then be used for US needs or sold to Washington's allies and partners. The Atlantic noted that this possibility may be one of the reasons for the concerns on the American side.
US President Donald Trump answered a question from reporters on August 6 whether Washington would provide Ukraine with additional interceptor missiles for Patriot complexes and long-range missiles requested by Kiev. Trump said that the United States itself needs missiles. He also accused the administration of former President Joe Biden of providing large amounts of military aid to Ukraine, which depleted US ammunition reserves.
Trump noted that when he finished his first term as president, US ammunition reserves were full, and then most of them were transferred to Ukraine. Now Washington is trying to restore these reserves.
Thus, the issue of licensing the production of Patriot missiles in Ukraine is not only related to strengthening Kiev's air defense capabilities, but also to the interests of the American defense industry, protecting technologies, and replenishing the United States' own military reserves.