Germany has called on the United States to allow interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems to be produced in Europe.
This was stated by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, the Financial Times reports.
Pistorius said he spoke to Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth about it last week. At the time, they signed a statement of intent to jointly produce American weapons systems in Europe. According to the German defense minister, the PAC-3 is “generally” covered by that agreement.
"Ultimately, this is — of course — a question of intellectual property. It is also a question of whether the Pentagon and the White House, as well as the company itself, will agree to this," the German politician clarified.
According to the FT, American officials and defense company executives are so far reluctant to agree to joint production of the PAC-3 interceptors, which are manufactured by Lockheed Martin.
- In early July, at the NATO summit in Ankara, US President Donald Trump reported that Washington would grant Kyiv a license to produce Patriot missiles. However, he later noted that the US “has to be very careful” about allowing Ukraine to produce Patriot missiles. The Telegraph reported that Trump changed his mind over concerns that the technology could fall into Russian hands.
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