With winter approaching, Ukrainian officials are in desperate need of additional air defenses to protect their power grids from potential Russian strikes. To address this issue, they have come up with a weapons system called the FrankenSAM program, which was initially developed by Ukraine and is now being pursued by the Pentagon. The program combines advanced Western-caliber surface-to-air missiles with retrofitted Soviet-era launchers or radars already in Ukrainian possession. Two variants of these improvised air defenses, one using Soviet Buk launchers and American Sea Sparrow missiles, and the other using Soviet-era radars and American Sidewinder missiles, have been tested on US military bases over the past few months and are expected to be delivered to Ukraine in the fall. Additionally, the Cold War-era Hawk missile system was recently showcased on Ukraine’s battlefield as part of the FrankenSAM program. These FrankenSAMs are seen as crucial in filling the gaps in Ukraine’s air defenses. The West has already supplied Ukraine with a range of air defenses, and Germany recently announced that it would provide Ukraine with three more batteries of sophisticated air defenses. The total military aid provided to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022 amounts to nearly $100 billion. The United States, which has been the largest single donor, is considering providing an additional $60 billion in weapons as part of an emergency spending plan. The FrankenSAM program aims to combine Ukraine’s existing weapons arsenal, obtained from both the East and the West, to create effective air defenses.