Norway will invest $400 million in Ukraine's defense industry to support drone and air defense missile production, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address on June 22.

The announcement followed a visit to Ukraine by Norwegian Defense Minister Tore Onshuus Sandvik.

"Today, Norway’s Minister of Defense visited Ukraine. A decision has been reached to invest $400 million in our production – new funding, primarily for drones," Zelensky said.

Zelensky added that the two countries are also working together to establish joint air defense production inside Ukraine.

"We are working together to create all the necessary conditions to produce air defense systems in Ukraine — jointly with partners, jointly with Norway," Zelensky said.

He added that Norway's largest defense company – Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace – has already opened an office in Ukraine as part of the cooperation.

"We are expediting all processes to the maximum extent," Zelensky said.

On X, Norway's defense ministry confirmed that Kongsberg has signed agreement with a major Ukrainian company to jointly develop and produce missiles for air defense systems in Ukraine.

The collaboration will focus on producing missiles for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, or NASAMS.

"The Norwegian NASAMS system saves lives in Ukraine every day, and is crucial in protecting critical infrastructure. That is why it is important for the Norwegian Government to finance this development of cheaper missiles for the NASAMS system in Ukraine," said Minister Sandvik.

The announcement marks deepening ties between Kyiv and Oslo as Ukraine seeks to expand its domestic defense industry amid Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion and reduced military aid from the United States.

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The Kyiv IndependentSonya Bandouil

Ukraine is downing approximately 82% of Russian Shahed-type drones during Russian massive aerial attacks on Ukrainian cities despite a serious shortage of surface-to-air missiles, Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi told journalists on June 21.

Ukraine needs to have many times more surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft missile systems to ensure reliable defense of cities and critical infrastructure facilities, Syrskyi said at a briefing attended by the Kyiv Independent.

Russian attacks against Ukraine have surged in May and June as Moscow has launched several record-breaking mass strikes against Kyiv and other cities. The latest attack on June 17, primarily targeting the capital, killed 30 people and injured over 170.

"Since we have to save anti-aircraft guided missiles, mobile fire groups are the priority for defending from the Shaheds," Syrskyi said.

Despite Russia's changing tactics of massive air attacks, mobile fire groups account for the largest share of destroyed drones. The fire groups' effectiveness is up to 40%, according to Syrskyi.

Aviation is used almost every night to repel Russian air attacks, featuring the Defense Forces' helicopter crews and fighter aircraft of the Air Force, which includes U.S.-made F-16 and French Mirage-2000 aircraft.

"One promising area in countering Shaheds is the use of light aircraft," Syrskyi said, adding that "there are new projects thanks to financial and material assistance from our foreign partners."

"We are receiving modern light aircraft, which have modern weapons and navigation, which will increase the effectiveness in countering Russian strike drones."

Syrskyi stressed that "cooperation with partners, primarily Canadian ones, enables us to obtain modern surveillance and targeting systems that enhance the combat capabilities of our helicopters."

Regular Air Force reports show that the majority of Russian drones are intercepted during overnight attacks, some by air defenses and others by electronic warfare systems. However, these reports do not always clarify how many of the intercepted drones were actual attack drones and which were only decoys launched to overwhelm air defenses.

Ukraine works to develop other means of protection against Russian air raids in the non-front-line oblasts as it scales up the use of interceptor drones.

Syrskyi said that over five types of interceptor drones have been cleared for use in the army, and new units are being formed and taught to operate them. Some of these Air Force units have already downed dozens of Russian Shaheds, according to Syrskyi.

The effective use of interceptor drones is hindered by the lack of tactical radar systems in Ukraine, such as Israel-made radars by RADA Electronic Industries and their analogues.

Syrskyi said the Ukrainian army needs hundreds of tactical radar systems instead of the few currently in service for radar reconnaissance, which is key to the use of interceptor drones.

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The Kyiv IndependentKollen Post