Ukraine Develops Missile That 'Can Reach Moscow', Shields Patriot Systems From Russian Shrapnel

A Ukrainian defense initiative is making steel armor for the country's inventory of American-made Patriot batteries, providing the air-defense systems with extra protection against shrapnel.

The MIM-104 Patriot is a surface-to-air missile system that has been a critical part of Ukraine's air-defense umbrella. Several Western nations, including the US, have sent Patriot control systems, launchers, and interceptor missiles to Kyiv to help it fend off massive Russian bombardments, but it only has a few Patriots, making protection key to maintaining Ukraine's defenses.

Rinat Akhmetov's Steel Front, a Ukrainian initiative that has built protective screens for tanks and armored fighting vehicles, announced on Friday that engineers from Metinvest, the country's largest steel producer, have developed new armor for the Patriot.

The heavy armor consists of around 200 steel plates, each around 8 millimeters thick, that wrap around the exterior of the Patriot's control unit, where the crew sits to operate the system. The protective plates are designed to shield the control unit from missile shrapnel and blast fragments.

Oleksandr Myronenko, the Metinvest Group's chief operating officer, said the company developed the project from scratch in under two months. "Air defenders also need reliable protection," he stressed in a statement. The total weight of the armor is 2.6 metric tons, but, the company said, it doesn't impact mobility or functionality.

Mass production of the armor is underway, but the first of the plates has already been installed on an undisclosed number of Patriot control units. Business Insider has reviewed video footage of the steel plates on one such unit.

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