Near Kyiv —
The weapon, the most popular weapon in the world, was last fired 10 weeks ago and the cartridge remains empty in a cornfield.
The U.S.-made Patriot interceptor has become the focus of a global supply shortage as dozens of countries rush to shore up their defense systems. It is one of the few weapons capable of shooting down ballistic missiles in the war-torn Gulf region with Iran, particularly here in Ukraine, which has been ravaged by a near-nightly surge of attacks by Moscow, making July the deadliest month for civilians since May 2022.
CNN was the first media outlet granted access to The Patriot on Ukrainian territory, allowing Ukrainian authorities to reveal one fact. It was said that the country had almost exhausted its interceptor missiles. CNN agreed not to reveal details of the Patriot model or its location.
The system’s 16 launch tubes seen by CNN showed signs of normal use, but Ukraine’s chief engineer, who gave his name only as Dmytro for security reasons, said he had not seen a Patriot launcher fire in six weeks. Ukraine has been reluctant to reveal exactly how many, if any, interceptors have defected. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said that the United States needs 5% of its stockpile to get through the winter, but currently has only 1%.
“It’s a really heartbreaking sight when you have the equipment and you can’t intercept the missiles,” Dmytro said, visibly emotional. “There are ballistic missiles flying overhead, and you can’t do anything, and there are civilians behind you.”
The first time it was unable to launch an interceptor missile was in December 2025. “It’s hard to explain. It’s a strong, bad feeling,” he said. “It’s like learning how to walk, but not being able to walk. You know how to breathe, but you can’t breathe.”
The launcher itself is part of a complex system consisting of a radar and a control center, which is operated remotely by the unit driver far away from the launcher during launch. Heorghi, another crew member who works at the headquarters, said the decision on which missiles to intercept is “based on experience” and given by the unit commander. “It’s hard to see a target fly by that threatens civilians and critical infrastructure and my comrades’ families and my own family.” He described the feeling of launching the interceptor as “something magical.”
The global crisis in the supply of Patriot interceptors was exacerbated by the heavy use of Patriot interceptors in the Gulf in March and April to counter relatively cheap Iranian drone attacks.
The wealthy Gulf state is believed to have used dozens of interceptor missiles, and Dmytro said he knew the Middle East conflict would eventually affect Ukraine. “We expected to be in trouble. We were very shocked by the number of missiles they launched at the same time. These were exactly the missiles we could use against Russian ballistic missiles,” he said.
According to the Foreign Policy Research Institute, the coalition used an average of 225 interceptors a day in the first four days of the war with Iran. They noted that manufacturer Lockheed Martin produced 620 interceptors in 2025, or 1.7 per day, resulting in a 132-to-1 gap between usage and production. In January, the Pentagon awarded Lockheed Martin a seven-year contract to produce 2,000 vehicles a year by 2030, at which point the Ukraine war will have been eight years old.
It is unclear how many interceptor missiles Ukraine has been promised by the United States or the size of the U.S. stockpile, which President Zelenskiy said it has at 1%. In an interview with CNN, President Zelenskiy addressed the complex issue of Ukraine producing its own missiles under license from the United States and its manufacturers, and said he had offered Raytheon and Lockheed Martin ownership and control of a licensed interceptor manufacturing plant in Ukraine.
“It’s going to be your company,” he recalled telling the U.S. manufacturer. “It’s our brains, it’s our hands, it’s our engineers. And I will do my best to build a great company for them, because I don’t have to sell (interceptors) to someone else who needs them for the motherland.” He said he is focused on production volume and that the price can be set by the manufacturer.
He said that almost five years into the war, he has become an expert on who had what capabilities. “I know the production, facilities, military, and inventories of almost every country in Europe, including the United States. Not all, but many.”
On the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara in June, President Trump offered Ukraine a license to begin manufacturing interceptor missiles. Raytheon and Lockheed Martin headed to Kiev to meet with Zelensky, but shortly afterward, Trump expressed doubts that the approval would move forward.
“I want to get it,” Zelenskiy said. “I think his words are the words of the president of the United States. I hope I can understand that too.”
In response to an interview with CNN’s Zelensky, White House officials said that no decisions or guarantees have been made regarding the production of the Patriot interceptor, and that the safety of American technology is a top priority.
Asked by CNN if Patriot artillery and interceptors could be built immediately despite intellectual property concerns, a dejected Dmytro said: “No, absolutely not, because this is a very complex procedure and requires a lot of knowledge and a lot of technical information.”
