UK, France ‘re-announce’ anti-missile tech for Ukraine: ‘None will be online for years’

European leaders have again pledged new anti-missile systems to Ukraine, but a former military intelligence officer warns the announcements are mostly symbolic. Dr. Frank Ledwidge, a Senior Lecturer in Strategy at Portsmouth University, says the coalition is not solving Kyiv’s most urgent problem: air defence. Ukraine needs interceptors that can stop Russian ballistic and hypersonic missiles. Without them, the country remains exposed to strikes on its defence industry and to Moscow’s ongoing attacks on civilian power grids as winter approaches. Ledwidge stressed that none of the newly promised systems will be operational for years.