USA and Ukrainian ballistics. With the arrival of Trump, missile experts advised to survive a certain period – Badrak
American experts, in particular, were involved in the creation of the Ukrainian ballistic missile. After Donald Trump came to power, they advised "to survive a certain period," although they assured that some assistance would remain. This was stated in a large article for LIGA.net by Valentyn Badrak, director of the Center for Army, Conversion, and Disarmament Studies.
According to the analyst, the birth of the Ukrainian ballistic missile "did not turn out to be quick, as several "raw" elements had to be finalized."
"It is inappropriate to go into detail here. It is possible to indicate the logic of advancing in parallel in several ways: independent missile testing, joint development with Europeans, and the help of the Americans, who at one time made efforts to ensure that Ukraine lost some missile competencies," Badrak added.
The analyst noted that only with Trump's second appearance in the White House did Europe realize the danger of dependence on the US, in particular, it realized that it did not have ballistic missiles of its own design: "Even France, the fastest in decisions, only in November 2024 demanded its own ballistic missile with a range of 1,000 km to reach Moscow."
Meanwhile, American missile engineers assured that they were ready to provide their Ukrainian colleagues with individual solutions, but honestly advised them to "survive a certain period," the expert noted.
Badrak also told LIGA.net that the Sapsan ballistic missile passed a successful combat test in May 2025 and is being launched into mass production. Later, President Zelenskyy confirmed that work on this is indeed underway.
In addition, the analyst said that the Sapsan reached a speed of Mach 5.2 during tests in July 2024. In comparison, this missile is faster than the American ATACMS and closer to the Russian Iskanders.
