Ukraine has built a system that solves a years-old dilemma: how to stop Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missiles when there is no money for endless Patriot systems. The solution is called "Lima". According to Kyiv, it shot down 58 out of 59 Kinzhals fired. With a 300-kilometre range.

What is Lima? Not missile defence. It is an electronic warfare system. It does not shoot at the Kinzhal - it lies to it. It emits electronic interference, feeds in fake navigation data, and runs cyber attacks on the missile's receiver mid-flight. The result is that the Kinzhal loses its bearings, drifts off course, or crashes.

"When we set up our EW wall, only one of 59 Kinzhals fired got through. All the rest were suppressed," said commander Alchemist of the "Night Watch" unit. According to Maksym Skoretskyi, Ukraine's director of electronic warfare: "This system really has no equivalent. Nobody before us managed to suppress 16-channel and 32-channel CRPA antennas, especially not at these ranges."

Economically, the gap is enormous. To cover all of Ukraine with Lima systems would cost around 1.8 billion dollars. Two Patriot systems cost more than 2 billion. A single Kinzhal missile costs between 4.5 and 15 million dollars. Add it up and the difference is dramatic.

What does this mean for the Balkans and NATO? A lot. Patriot is expensive and the US is in no mood to sell it or give it away. Lima is a software-heavy system - quick to deploy, cheaper, and adaptable. If Ukraine could build something like this while fighting a war, other countries can too.

For North Macedonia, which depends on NATO for its security, this is a signal that technology is replacing expensive hardware. But it is also a warning - whoever controls electronic warfare controls the sky. And that battle is no longer fought with Patriot or Kinzhal. It is fought with code, antennas, intelligence data. And that is a game small countries can play in, if they are lucky enough to find the right partners.