Russia's monthly ballistic-missile output now exceeds US production of the Patriot interceptors Ukraine uses to stop them
Russia is producing roughly 70 ballistic missiles a month for its Iskander and Kinzhal systems -- more than the about 56 PAC-3 MSE interceptors Lockheed Martin builds in the same period -- Defense Express chief editor Oleh Katkov said on Suspilne TV, citing Ukrainian intelligence and Lockheed data. Because intercepting one Iskander typically takes two to three PAC-3s, the effective shortfall is far wider, and Ukraine's air force already calls its interceptor supply a "starvation ration." The arithmetic came into focus hours after a 729-missile-and-drone overnight barrage killed 21 people in Kyiv and Dnipro, with US Patriot stocks further drained by the Iran war.
Russia's monthly production of ballistic missiles for its Iskander and Kinzhal systems is now running ahead of Lockheed Martin's monthly output of the PAC-3 MSE interceptors Ukraine relies on to stop them, Defense Express chief editor Oleh Katkov said on Suspilne TV. Drawing on publicly available Ukrainian intelligence and Lockheed Martin figures, he put Russian output at 60 Iskander-M missiles a month plus another 10 Kinzhals -- about 70 ballistic missiles, per HUR data cited by NV -- against the 620 PAC-3 MSE interceptors Lockheed delivered across all of 2025, or roughly 56 a month. In practice the gap is wider than that ratio, because a single Iskander interception typically requires two or three PAC-3s fired in salvo. "Russia has no problem with ballistics, because they produce more ballistic missiles for the Iskander operational-tactical complex than the US produces missiles for the Patriot in the same period," Katkov said, adding that Russian forces fire the missiles "straight off the production conveyor."
His comments followed a coordinated Russian overnight attack of 729 missiles and drones, with Kyiv the primary target. In the capital, five people were killed and 64 wounded, including three children aged 3, 11 and 17, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said; 38 of the wounded were hospitalised, and emergency crews searched for residents believed trapped under a nine-storey building in the Podilskyi district that partially collapsed in a "double tap" strike. In Dnipro, the State Emergency Service reported 16 killed and 42 injured, with children among the casualties, and three more people were hurt in nearby Kamianske. The barrage was the latest in a wave of mass overnight attacks -- a June 1 strike killed at least 22 -- that has steadily drawn down Ukraine's interceptor reserves.
Ukraine consumes about 60 Patriot interceptors a month, a supply its air force describes as a "starvation ration." The Iran war has pulled further from US Patriot stocks, with Trump administration officials reportedly warning allies that American weapons shipments to Ukraine could be interrupted in the coming months. Efforts to close the gap have been uneven: the Pentagon recently cut the roughly $8 million earmarked for the next-generation Patriot interceptor, even as Boeing moved to triple production of the Patriot seeker. The arithmetic Katkov laid out is the core of Ukraine's defensive problem -- it can win the nightly intercept battle only as long as it is supplied faster than Russia can build and fire.