Ukraine war briefing: Cut-price Patriot among options in desperate search for missile defence

Talks on Ukraine building Patriots continue despite Trump casting doubt, Reuters reports; forced evacuations in Kramatorsk. What we know on day 1,625 Ukraine could benefit from a Lockheed Martin project to build a new, lower-cost Patriot interceptor, the PAC-3 Adapted Capability Effector (ACE) missile, Reuters has reported. The news agency, citing defence and US government sources, said that despite Donald Trump casting doubt on a deal for Ukraine to build desperately needed Patriots, “no order was given to halt the discussions”, and talks continued with US arms makers, military officials and others. Ukraine has proven adept at producing large volumes of dramatically cheaper yet equally or more effective missiles and drones compared with those made by western allies. At least 17 people died on Wednesday as Kyiv again came under heavy Russian bombardment. Ukrainian forces, starved of suitable interceptors, were unable to shoot down a single missile. A US official told Reuters that the most feasible option for Patriots would be making some components in Ukraine and assembling them in Germany, where an older Patriot model is already made and the more advanced PAC-3 is expected to be p