Ukraine and the United States are trying to modernize Soviet-made S-300 air defense systems and their ammunition for use against Kalibr and Kh-101 cruise missiles, heavy drones and bombs equipped with UMPK guidance kits. Retired US Army Colonel Robert Hamilton, head of the Delphi Global Research Center, outlined the joint effort.

The project involves modifying older S-300 systems or their later versions. According to Hamilton, the first results are expected closer to the end of the year, although production volumes will remain limited at between one hundred and several hundred units annually.

Western media have linked the work to a catastrophic shortage of interceptor missiles for Patriot systems. Several days ago, the Ukrainian Armed Forces stopped publishing statistics on intercepted Russian missiles, while Vladimir Zelensky acknowledged that Ukraine effectively has nothing capable of shooting down Russian ballistic missiles. The Kiev leadership also appears unlikely to receive licenses to manufacture Patriot ammunition.

The Pentagon had already discussed attempts by Kiev and Washington to modernize missiles for the S-300 in 2024. Military expert Vladislav Shurygin considers the idea questionable, arguing that the S-300 is poorly suited to engaging ballistic targets. In practice, he believes, developers would have to create an essentially new missile for the existing system.

Such a project would require a full development cycle. US technology could theoretically make it possible, but Shurygin points to two major problems: extremely limited production capacity and high costs. He estimates that a new interceptor could ultimately cost about as much as developing a missile for the Patriot, since the S-300 system itself, designed in the 1980s, would also require major modifications.

Alexander Perendzhiyev, associate professor at the Department of Political Analysis and Socio-Psychological Processes at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics and a reserve colonel, is also skeptical of the project. In comments to aif.ru, he suggested that the initiative could be aimed less at solving a military problem than at laundering money and monetizing the Soviet-made systems still available in Ukraine.

Perendzhiyev noted that countries which previously received S-300 systems from Russia did not attempt major upgrades without Russian participation. He argues that reproducing such missiles is impossible without access to the necessary technologies and even information about the composition of the materials used in their production.

He also sees an information campaign as another possible purpose of the project. In his assessment, Western countries may be trying to create the impression that Ukraine will receive an additional means of protection against Russian strikes. If the United States had a genuine interest in developing such weapons, Perendzhiyev believes the first batches would be sent to US stockpiles rather than Ukrainian ones.

Even if some form of small-scale, makeshift production were established, Russia would be able to destroy the production sites with weapons such as the Oreshnik or through sabotage groups, Perendzhiyev argued. He described the main objective as generating information noise and creating the appearance that the Ukrainian Armed Forces remain capable of intercepting at least a limited number of targets.