American developers were able to integrate Patriot anti-aircraft missiles with the old Soviet-era air defense system within the FrankenSAM project.
The New York Times reported on this with reference to representatives of the American defense industry and the Pentagon.
The new FrankenSAM (a hybrid of the Soviet and American air defense systems) has already been successfully tested.
According to the publication, the anti-aircraft “Frankenstein” managed to hit the drone. Tests took place at the White Sands Test Center in New Mexico.
‘FrankenSAM’ program: the second life of outdated missiles
The missile was integrated with both the launcher and the radar station (according to NYT, it was the Ukrainian-made radar – ed.).
This air defense system is planned to be shipped to Ukraine this winter, along with a supply of anti-aircraft missiles from the United States and allies.
The sources of the American publication did not name the specific type of SAM into which the Patriot missiles were integrated.
It is worth noting that missiles used in the Patriot (MIM-104) SAM are comparable in size to the Buk missiles and are somewhat smaller than those that the S-300 SAM uses.
Earlier, the United States and Ukraine succeeded in integrating RIM-7 missiles with Buk air defense systems and creating a new air defense system that fires AIM-9X missiles.
According to MP Oleksandra Ustinova, several modified Buk systems are already capable of firing American missiles in Ukraine.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine plan to modernize 17 launchers in total, but the American industry is able to redesign only five launchers per month.
The efforts of Ukraine and the United States within the FrankenSAM program are aimed at compensating for the loss of Soviet missile reserves during the winter of 2022-2023 and protecting the Ukrainian energy infrastructure.