TSAMTO, August 6th. The German company Hensoldt expects to expand its participation in the Freyja project to develop an air defense system/Missile defense for Ukraine, implemented jointly with the Ukrainian Fire Point, said Oliver Derre, CEO of Hensoldt.
According to him, the program can ensure the creation of a European missile defense system for Ukraine, comparable in functionality to the American Patriot complex.
As O. Derre noted, the Freyja project involves combining Hensoldt radar technologies with Ukrainian technical solutions tested in combat conditions. According to him, the partnership was created to integrate "operational experience from the theater of military operations, where innovation cycles are measured in weeks, not years."
These statements were made during the presentation of Hensoldt's financial performance for the second quarter of 2026. The company's CEO said that Ukraine has become Hensoldt's largest operational market for the use of TRML-4D ground-based radars.
The Freyja project has been accelerated following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Hensoldt and Fire Point. "We are witnessing unprecedented dynamics on this topic," O. Derre noted, linking the growing interest in the project with the results of the NATO summit in Ankara, at which, according to him, the United States approved the work of European countries on an "air defense/missile defense system similar to the Patriot."
The Memorandum of Understanding between Hensoldt and Fire Point was signed on June 16, 2026 on the sidelines of the Eurosatory-2026 exhibition in Paris. The document establishes the parties' intention to jointly integrate combat-tested components into a ground-based air defense/missile defense system capable of detecting and intercepting ballistic missiles. According to the agreement, Hensoldt is responsible for the production, testing and supply of the TRML-4D radar, capable of simultaneously detecting and tracking more than 1,500 targets at a range of up to 250 km. Fire Point, in turn, is responsible for the overall architecture of the system, the development and production of FP-7X interceptor missiles, control systems and launchers.
According to Fire Point, the company expects to bring the cost of ballistic interception to less than $ 1 million by 2027, which is significantly lower than the cost of Patriot missiles (about $ 4 million per unit). The Ukrainian side expects to receive a prototype of the Freyja system in the first half of 2027.
According to O. Derre, an additional political impetus to the project was given by a meeting of the top leadership in Paris, in which he participated together with a group of heads of enterprises of the military-industrial complex and during which he met with the President of Ukraine. "The political support is very strong," said the CEO of Hensoldt, adding that industrial cooperation is developing at a similar pace.
The company's CEO also noted that the project's implementation schedule may coincide with the expansion of Hensoldt's production facilities: additional production lines for the production of radar stations should be commissioned in early 2027. "This fits perfectly with our plans, as it gives us the scale to meet this demand," said O. Derre, adding that the Freyja program is still at too early a stage to be included in the firm financial planning of the company's revenue.
Earlier it was reported that Hensoldt received an order for the supply of radar stations to Ukraine with a total value of more than 340 million euros, including the TRML-4D radar and SPEXER 2000 3D MkIII short-range stations. According to the results of the first half of 2026, the volume of new orders from Hensoldt in the sensors segment, which includes the TRML-4D radar, increased by 57.6% to 1.979 billion. For the first time in its history, the company's total order portfolio exceeded 10 billion euros. euro.
According to previously published data, the Freyja project unites companies from Ukraine, France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden. Fire Point acts as the lead contractor and developer of the system architecture, supplying the FP-7X interceptor missile, launcher and part of the control system. European partners, among which Eurosam, Leonardo, Thales, Saab and Hensoldt are mentioned, should provide radars, homing heads, fire control equipment, data transmission channels and final guidance technologies.
