On Tuesday, July 7, 2026, the first day of the 38th NATO Summit in Ankara, at the associated NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum, the defense ministries of Norway, Denmark, Germany, and Canada announced the joint purchase of interceptor missiles from the United States for Ukraine’s MIM-104 Patriot air and missile defense systems.
Photo: Norwegian Ministry of Defence
The initiative is led by the Kingdom of Norway, which announced that it would allocate an additional 3 billion NOK to strengthen the capabilities of Ukraine’s air defense systems.
„Ukraine’s battle to defend itself is our battle as well. Ukraine is facing Russian attacks every day. Russia is continuing to carry out air strikes against civilians, Ukrainian cities and critical energy infrastructure. Ukraine is managing to stop most drones and cruise missiles, but it needs to strengthen its defence against ballistic missiles. This is one of Ukraine’s most urgent priorities. Norway is therefore now providing NOK 3 billion for air defence,” said Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the NATO Summit in Ankara.
„Russia is sending hundreds of drones and missiles into Ukraine day and night. The Patriot air defence system is highly effective and can counter a wide range of threats, including ballistic missiles,” said Minister of Defence Tore O. Sandvik.
Orders directly from the manufacturer
Together with Denmark, Germany, and Canada, Norway will order new interceptor missiles for Patriot systems directly from the manufacturer in the United States. Norway will continue its participation in NATO’s assistance financing mechanism known as PURL, the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List. PURL is a NATO program announced on July 14, 2025, during a meeting in Washington between US President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. It coordinates the financing and donation of advanced US military equipment to Ukraine, including air defense systems. Given the long delivery times for some of these missiles, Norway also plans to purchase Patriot interceptor missiles from countries that already have them, in order to facilitate their rapid transfer to Ukraine.
General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
At the same time, Ukraine has invited European partners to take part in the development of a new missile defense system. As the government in Oslo emphasizes, this could also be relevant to the defense of Norway and other Allied countries. Norway is therefore allocating funds for this purpose (Freya: Ukraine develops low-cost anti-ballistic system in cooperation with Europe).
„In the future, ballistic missiles may also come to pose a serious threat to Norway and Allied countries. The Ukrainian initiative is thus of interest in terms of strengthening Norway’s defence capabilities as well,” said Mr Sandvik.
In 2023–2025, Norway allocated a total of 30 billion NOK to support Ukraine’s air defense. Norway is also providing substantial funding to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense in 2026.
On April 14 this year, the COMLOG joint venture, composed of US company Raytheon/RTX and Germany’s MBDA Deutschland, part of the European MBDA consortium, received an order for deliveries of PAC-2 GEM-T interceptors to Ukraine worth 3.7 billion USD. The deliveries are being financed by the German federal government.
Ukraine has around 10–12 Patriot system batteries, although the exact number is classified. They come from donations by the United States, with three batteries; Germany, with five batteries; Norway, with one battery; the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with five launchers; Romania, with one battery; and Israel, with an unknown number (New U.S. Support Package for Ukrainian Patriots And Approval for Modernization).
🇳🇴🇺🇦Norway is now providing an additional NOK 3 billion to strengthen Ukraine’s air defence systems.🇳🇴🇺🇦
‘Ukraine’s battle to defend itself is our battle as well. Ukraine is facing Russian attacks every day. Russia is continuing to carry out air strikes against civilians,… pic.twitter.com/QL96ijWpyR
— Norwegian Ministry of Defence (@Forsvarsdep) July 7, 2026
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