McCaul says Patriot production in Ukraine would benefit US contractors
The Republican lawmaker said Lockheed Martin has reason to license Patriot interceptor production after Trump told Ukraine it could make the system.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
2 min read
Representative Michael McCaul said U.S. defense companies would be serving their own interests by allowing Ukraine to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors. The issue matters because Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly sought more air-defense weapons to counter Russian ballistic missile attacks, according to Bloomberg.
McCaul, a Texas Republican who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, made the comments Saturday on Bloomberg This Weekend while he was in Ukraine. Asked whether Lockheed Martin would license the technology, McCaul said he believed doing so would be in the company’s interest for several reasons.
McCaul linked that calculation to President Donald Trump’s position. He said that if Trump wants the licensing effort carried out, defense contractors have an incentive to go along with it, according to Bloomberg.
Trump told Zelenskyy during a NATO summit meeting this week that the United States would give Ukraine a license to make Patriots, Bloomberg reported. The Patriot system includes technology from Lockheed Martin and from Raytheon, the RTX unit, according to the report.
Zelenskyy has pressed the United States and other allies for additional interceptors throughout Russia’s full-scale war, Bloomberg reported. Ukraine has sought the weapons to defend against ballistic missile strikes that have hit cities and other targets during more than four years of fighting.
McCaul argued that Ukraine could become an effective producer of the interceptors. He told Bloomberg that Ukrainians might be able to build the system more quickly and possibly improve on it.
He also suggested that the licensing arrangement could feed technical lessons back to U.S. manufacturers. McCaul said Lockheed could learn from Ukraine about improving interceptors and speeding production, according to Bloomberg.
During his visit, McCaul said Ukrainian military officials briefed him on domestic drone technology and on Ukrainian forces’ progress in taking back territory occupied by Russia. Bloomberg reported that the briefing took place while McCaul was in Ukraine.
The comments put defense-industry licensing at the center of a broader effort to expand Ukraine’s air-defense capacity. Bloomberg reported that Trump’s pledge would allow Ukraine to produce a U.S.-designed system that has become central to Kyiv’s appeals for help against Russian missile attacks.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.