Japan could help Ukraine finance the development of its own air defense system, reducing reliance on US-made Patriot systems.
Ukraine’s Ambassador to Japan, Yuriii Lutovinov, said this in an interview with Reuters.
He noted that such cooperation is especially timely given the persistent shortage of missiles for the US system, which remains one of the few capable of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles.
According to the diplomat, Ukraine already has the technical foundation to implement such a project but requires financial investment.
“We have all the necessary industrial capacity for production. But we need investment. We need funding,” Lutovinov said.
Japanese companies could help Ukraine diversify its sources of supply for electronics and microcomponents needed for drone production.
Ukraine–Japan cooperation
Recently, Militarnyi reported that the Japanese company Terra Drone is scaling up production of Ukrainian interceptor drones Terra A1 and Terra A2 and also plans to invest in jet-powered drones.
In Ukraine, these drones are manufactured by the company Amazing Drones, which has already signed an agreement to attract Japanese investment.
In March, Kyodo News reported that the Japanese government is considering purchasing Ukrainian-made strike drones to strengthen its defense capabilities.
One option for implementing this step under consideration is signing a bilateral arms transfer agreement that would include provisions for the protection of classified information.
In February, it was reported that Ukraine is ready to cooperate with Japan in the defense sector, including sharing technologies for maritime drones and interceptor UAVs. This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
He emphasized that Japan is among the countries that possess licenses and domestic production of missiles and air defense systems capable of countering ballistic threats. Therefore, Ukraine is interested in joint production or the exchange of expertise.
