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Ukraine hopes for Japan’s support in establishing production of Patriot air defense systems on its own territory under a US license, given the experience of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which manufactures interceptor missiles for Japan’s Self-Defense Forces.
This was stated by First Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Serhii Kyslytsia in an interview with Kyodo News, UATV English reports.
“We support political dialogue on finding ways to cooperate on this issue with Japan, which is one of the few countries that has received a license to produce the Patriot surface-to-air missile system,” Kyslytsia said.
According to him, Patriot systems are defensive, so Japan, which adheres to a pacifist Constitution, should have no legislative restrictions preventing such cooperation.
At the same time, Kyslytsia declined to comment on whether Ukraine is in talks with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the main licensed producer of Patriots in Japan.
As previously reported, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine is interested in cooperating with the Japanese company Mitsubishi, which holds a license to produce Patriot missiles and has experience deploying such production.
US President Donald Trump, ahead of his meeting with Zelenskyy in Ankara, stated that the US administration is preparing to grant Ukraine licensing rights to produce Patriot interceptor missiles.
Zelenskyy expressed hope of obtaining licenses to produce missiles for Patriot air defense systems by the end of 2026.
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