Germany Announces New Air Defense for Kyiv

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin would send air defense systems and missiles to Kyiv in an upcoming defense package.

Pistorius listed four IRIS-T surface-to-air defense systems with missiles and another 30 missiles for Patriot systems among the components of an upcoming package in a comment ahead of Friday’s Ukrainian Defense Coordination Group (UDCG) meeting, commonly known as the Ramstein group, at the NATO HQ in Brussels.

Pistorius added that the nations would also discuss the production of Western missiles in Ukraine under license, according to The Guardian. The publication noted that Pistorius is likely to stay in the new German coalition government.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a day prior, said air defense is a key focus of the Friday.

The package – delivery timeline unclear – would also include 120 Man-Portable Air-Defense System (MANPADS), 300 reconnaissance drones, 25 more Marder infantry fighting vehicles, 15 Leopard tanks, 14 artillery systems, 100 ground surveillance radars and another 100,000 rounds of artillery shells, according to Interfax Ukraine.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, also attending the Ramstein format meeting, thanked Berlin for the new package.

“The deliveries from in 2025 will help us defend our skies (IRIS-T systems with missiles, PATRIOT missiles) and strengthen our positions on the battlefield (Marders, Leopards, artillery systems). Thank you, Germany, for standing by our side. Together, we will ensure a just and lasting peace in Europe,” Umerov said.

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Russia’s Air Defense Problems Are Growing

Moscow did not expect such a war at the start of the full-scale invasion. Now many Russians have gone into panic mode as they watch Ukrainian drones hit targets in Russia almost at will. It seems the tables have turned and Moscow is now on the back foot, forced to adapt to how Ukrainians have managed to scale up quantities of relatively cheap drones to inflict heavy damage on Russia’s air defense capabilities.

The Ramstein meeting took place a day after the “Coalition of the Willing” meeting at the same location, where Western nations hinted at progress in planning troop deployments to Ukraine but provided few details on the exact mechanism.

When asked about the planned troop deployments in discussion, Pistorius declined to divulge details and said it should be kept an internal discussion at the current stage until the allies “find a way to go where we have to go.”

Zelensky and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth are expected to join the meeting virtually.