The US cannot increase production of Patriot missiles at factories in Japan because of a shortage of Boeing-made homing heads, Reuters reported, citing industry sources.
The manufacturer of Patriot missiles has encountered a shortage of homing heads required for target acquisition. According to the agency, this circumstance hinders the increase in production of the ammunition by means of loading Japanese military factories.
“A US plan to use Japanese factories to increase production of Patriot anti-aircraft missiles used by Ukraine to defend against Russian attacks is being delayed by a shortage of a critical component manufactured by Boeing. The U.S. hopes to increase production from about 500 to more than 750 (pieces – ed.) a year worldwide as soon as possible. But expanding production in Japan is impossible without additional supplies of the homing heads that guide missiles in the final stages of flight,” Reuters said in a report.
In 2023, Boeing announced the expansion of production of homing heads, but the new production lines will not begin work before 2027, summarised in the material.
We will remind, earlier Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine needs to have a total of 25 air defence systems “Patriot” to completely “close the sky” of the country, but did not disclose their number in the presence of the armed forces.