The first company participating in a government-backed private air defense project has destroyed Shahed and Zala drones in the Kharkiv region.
Ukraine’s government allowed enterprises to form air defense groups last year, as Russian forces intensified their targeting of industrial facilities and warehouses. The project primarily invites critical infrastructure operators in energy, communications, transport, and water supply. It is also open to companies with security expertise, specifically authorized for guard services, explosives handling, or munitions production. This allows rapid scaling of air defense capabilities without straining frontline resources.
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Currently, only one such unit is fully operational, but new air defense units are being formed simultaneously at 13 other enterprises. To accomplish this, the enterprises must obtain the status of authorized entities, according to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
As of now, the groups are at various stages of readiness: some are already carrying out combat missions, while others are undergoing training or completing preparations to soon reinforce the country’s air defense, Ukraine’s defense ministry said on Monday.
“We created a model where the state, military and business work as a single system,” the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov is quoted in the press release. “Our goal is to build a multi-level air defense system that will provide maximum coverage and effective interception of air threats.”
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Ukraine integrates private groups into Air Force command
Private air defense units are integrated into the Ukrainian Air Force’s unified command-and-control system and are already operational within it. The groups protect facilities and help intercept airborne threats.
The ministry said the project is also designed to open up the air defense market and foster competition: businesses can develop private air defense systems and protect their own assets, while private groups receive weapons and operate under Air Force coordination as part of the broader air defense architecture.
Unit commanders work within a digital command-and-control system that provides real-time coordination and situational awareness. Enterprises purchase or are allocated air defense equipment either by military command decision or through supply procedures approved by the Ministry of Defense.
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