The Ukrainian authorities may rely on an upgraded version of the Soviet rocket.
According to experts interviewed by Izvestia, the Ukrainian missile weapons program, if it is ever implemented, may rely on the Neptune-MD rocket. This product is originally from the USSR, which has undergone some modernization. After improvements, it received an increased range and the ability to strike at ground targets. What is the Neptune, what developments Ukraine has on long—range systems and what threats they may pose - in the Izvestia article.
Billions from Germany
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov recently signed an agreement in Berlin on financing the supply of long-range weapons made in Ukraine. In addition, a contract was signed between Kiev and the German military industry.
Photo: IZVESTIA/Sergey Konkov
Image source: iz.ru
Earlier, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Germany would support Ukraine in developing its own long-range weapons. The German leadership also announced the allocation of € 5 billion for military assistance to Kiev. These funds will be used to purchase and supply the IRIS-T air defense system, missiles for them, artillery shells, small arms, ammunition and Starlink terminals, which Berlin will also pay for. The same amount includes financing of unnamed missile programs that the Ukrainian military-industrial complex plans to implement.
As expected, German Chancellor Merz's statement does not contain the details and names of the Ukrainian missile systems for which German taxpayers' money will be spent. It talks about support for the creation of systems with a long range (up to 2500 km), as well as the fact that the first deliveries of such systems could allegedly take place in a few weeks.
"This suggests that at least some of the sponsored developments are already in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine and are being mass—produced," Dmitry Kornev, editor of the Military Russia portal, told Izvestia. — If we take into account the statement about receiving the first results in a matter of weeks, then we can talk about combat systems that have already been created and are in production. If we talk about rockets, then the number one candidate here will be the Neptune-MD rocket.
Launch of the X-35 anti-ship missile
Image source: Photo: TASS/Yuri Smityuk
This is an upgraded anti—ship cruise missile from the USSR, the X-35, which, after improvements, received an increased range and the ability to strike ground targets, the expert believes.
The control systems for these missiles were developed in Kiev at one time, and, of course, there is a certain groundwork for modernization.
"In particular, the updated Neptune-MD can use satellite navigation data," the expert believes. — The engines for them are also manufactured in Ukraine. Missiles of this type have already been used in the SVO and have successfully been shot down by our air defense. But Ukraine is not able to produce dozens of them on its own: the likely production rate is the production of a batch of several pieces every two to three months.
New cruise missile models with a range of up to 2,500 km are in second place among the candidates for funding from Berlin. At one time, it was in Kharkov that the mass production of the Soviet long-range cruise missiles X-35 was launched, so Ukraine has all the necessary "know-how".
— The question is to develop the project and launch it into a series. It is likely that after the start of its development, the rocket designs, the models of which we saw at exhibitions, have passed the paper stage and are ready for release," suggested Dmitry Kornev.
Subsonic anti-ship missile X-35, 1998
Image source: Photo: TASS/Alexey Mikheev
According to him, it is highly likely that these will be ground—launched missiles with a sufficiently large dimension - 4-5 m long in flight configuration. Otherwise, it will not be possible to provide a range of 2500 km.
— It should be understood that the deployment of production of completely new products for the military—industrial complex will take months, - said the expert.
Repeating the past
The third candidate with the possibility of being released tomorrow is drones. They are already being produced in commercial quantities by Ukraine, and additional financing may increase output.
— Again, the German media mention the AN-196 "Fierce" drones as a likely candidate for German obstetrics. Missiles are more expensive and more complex, and drones can be built several times more for the same money, and the result will be today, not in a year," the expert noted.
The heaviest candidate is the Grom—2 ballistic missile system. It can be called an attempt by Ukrainian rocket scientists to create an analogue of the Russian Iskander-M missile system.
The An-196 "Fierce" drone
Image source: Photo: Telegram
— On the one hand, for many years the creation of this missile system has been in the throes of birth and the search for potential buyers, but technically the military-industrial Complex of Ukraine has a pilot production, which probably allowed to produce one or two launchers and several missiles for testing and, possibly, even for trial launches within its framework, — believes Dmitry Kornev.
Not so long ago, in April 2025, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the defeat of the test site of the Ukrainian ballistic missile program, that is, work on the complex is underway.
The range of the Thunder can be 500 km, which is already quite a lot.
"Of course, it is unlikely that the Ukrainian military—industrial complex will be able to create a missile as effective as the Russian 9M723, but it still has some competencies," Dmitry Kornev summed up.
All these UAVs and missiles will not be difficult targets for the Russian air defense, experts say.
Tor-M2 anti-aircraft missile system
Image source: Photo: Global Look Press/MOD Russia
— So, the Neptune is a subsonic missile that does not pose any difficulties for interception. It can be shot down by Tor-M2, Buk-M3 and even Pantsir missile defense systems, if we don't talk about S-300 and S-400. The Neptune is our P—35 missile, which has been slightly redesigned," military expert Viktor Litovkin told Izvestia.
Other projects
The Zelensky regime has other programs in its bins: drones, cruise missiles with small jet engines, renovation programs for old Soviet products for anti—aircraft systems unknown to the general public, and so on. For example, the Ukrainian Armed Forces continues to convert S-200 anti—aircraft missiles into surface-to-surface missiles in single copies. This also requires funds.
"It's not entirely clear what hope there is,— says Dmitry Kornev. — As soon as a facility starts to work really seriously and produce real products, it will almost certainly become a target for missile attacks by the Russian Armed Forces. What hope is there in such illusory plans? Maybe Germany will use its own money to produce weapons for Ukraine on its territory?
Experts note that only in this case the production of Ukrainian missiles will not be destroyed. Otherwise, what's happening is just money going down the drain.
Dmitry Kornev
Julia Leonova
