An international group of private and government entities are jointly developing a mobile air-defense system for Ukraine to counter Russian missiles and artillery shells, Market Watch revealed, citing a company CEO.
The two-stage initiative, dubbed “Sky Project,” will upgrade Ukraine’s air defense by revamping the country’s command center — which includes 45 mobile monitoring centers collecting information on incoming missiles — followed by the interceptor, which counters only 20 percent of its targets.
Sky Project
The Sky Project is modeled on Israel’s Iron Dome system, which has a reported interception rate of 90 percent.
Ukraine has “an old, bad system that we are replacing in a startup-ey way with upgraded computer systems of sophisticated new hardware and software,” JustAnswer Chief Executive Andy Kurtzig told Market Watch.
“The US has not helped to close the skies from day one of this conflict.”
San Francisco-based JustAnswer and Lviv IT Cluster Administration are co-developing the air defense system in partnership with the Lviv Military Administration, Ukraine Air Command, West Software Association of Japan, itSMF Japan, and others.
Russian Missiles Pound Kyiv
Ukraine’s air defense comprises a range of Soviet-era mobile surface-to-air systems, including the 9K37M1 Buk, 9K330 Tor, and S-300.
President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded for more sophisticated air defense systems this week after the country’s capital was hit by a barrage of Russian missiles, killing a 37-year-old man and injuring many more, including children.
On Monday, a missile strike on a shopping mall in the central city of Kremenchuk killed at least 18 people and injured more than 59.