30 Ukrainian Companies Cleared to Form Private Air Defense Units

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry has authorized 30 companies to form private air defense groups, marking a major expansion of an already established experimental project that brings businesses directly into the country’s air defense efforts against Russian drone attacks.

Officials say these units are already helping shield factories and critical-, as well as civilian-, infrastructures that are frequent targets.

The project, first launched in November 2025, enables companies to apply for a special status from the ministry, form their own units, and integrate them into the national air defense system under the command of the Air Force. 

The initiative is not used to replace regular air defense, but to add an extra layer of protection to Ukraine’s multi-tiered systems around vulnerable targets.

“We need to cover all of Ukraine and see all the targets,” explained Yuriy Myronenko, the inspector general at Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense who oversees the initiative. “So accordingly, we use all the resources we have.”

The project’s purpose for 2026 is “to identify 100% of air threats and to destroy 95% of them,” Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said, presenting an action plan that provides three strategic goals – to close the sky, to stop the advance of Russian troops in each domain, and to deprive Russia of economic resources for warfare.

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43 enterprises have already applied

According to the defense ministry, 43 enterprises from various industrial backgrounds have applied to join the project.

Half of the applicants who received the “status of commissioners for the implementation of air defense measures” are operators and enterprises of critical infrastructure, while the rest are private sector companies.

Under the “private air defense” concept, companies use approved weapons and sensors to defend specific facilities from low-flying threats, such as drones, while operating strictly within the military command chain rather than as freelance security contractors.

In May, officials reported that several of these groups were already on combat duty and had “successfully destroyed more than 10 enemy drones, including Shahed and Zala models,” aiming to present the numbers as proof that the idea of the project also works in practice.

Companies that want to join can apply to the ministry, where they undergo security checks and forms, then move on to training their units. Afterwards, they can be assigned to combat duty alongside Ukraine’s professional air defenders.