Ukraine has practically run out of its Patriot air defense system, according to CNN, which had access to a Patriot system in Ukraine.

Accordingly, the 16 tubes of the system that CNN saw show signs of regular use, but its chief engineer in Ukraine, who gave only his first name Dmytro for security reasons, said he had not seen a Patriot launcher fire for six weeks. Ukraine has been reluctant to specify exactly how many interceptors, if any, it has left – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the country needs 5% of the US stockpile to survive the winter, but currently only has 1%.

The first time he had no interceptors to fire was in December 2025.

The launcher itself is part of a complex system of radars and control centers, and is remotely operated, with the unit drivers far from the launcher when it fires.

The global crisis in the supply of Patriot interceptors was fomented by their liberal use in the Gulf, in March and April, often to counter relatively cheap Iranian drone attacks.

Wealthy Gulf states were thought to have used dozens of the interceptors.

Coalition forces used on average 225 interceptors per day in the first four days of the war with Iran, according to the Foreign Policy Research Institute. They noted manufacturer Lockheed Martin made 620 interceptors in 2025, or 1.7 a day, resulting in a 132 to one gap between use and production. In January, the Pentagon entered a seven-year deal to get Lockheed Martin to make 2,000 annually by 2030, by which time the war in Ukraine would be eight years old.

It is unclear how many interceptors Ukraine has been promised by the United States, or the size of the US stockpile of which Zelenskyy said he had 1%. In an interview with CNN, Zelenskyy addressed the complex issue of Ukraine building their own, under license from the US and its manufacturers, saying he had offered Raytheon and Lockheed Martin ownership and control of any interceptor manufacturing plant they permit in Ukraine.