The war in Ukraine has long stopped being fought only on the ground - it's also being fought in the factories. And there, according to military analysts, Ukraine is losing a race that rarely makes the front pages: the race for missiles for the "Patriot" systems, without which the sky over Ukrainian cities stays open.

The numbers are brutally simple. American manufacturer "Lockheed Martin" assembles about 52 PAC-3 MSE missiles a month. Russia, according to the same analyses, produces around 113 ballistic projectiles of various types in the same period - almost twice as many. When one side fires more than the other can intercept, the math decides instead of the generals.

The problem is deeper than one factory. Even if the US sent all of its new missiles to Ukraine, it wouldn't be enough, analysts claim. The world's stockpiles are drained - the conflict between the US and Iran and the consumption of the Persian Gulf countries pulled those same missiles to the other side of the world. In other words, Ukraine is competing for weapons everyone wants at once.

Skepticism is warranted here - estimates like these often come from outlets close to one side or the other, so the "twice as many" figure should be read as a trend, not a verified tally. But even with that reservation, the point stands: air defense doesn't depend on courage, but on stockpiles. And when the stockpiles empty faster than they fill, the question is no longer whether the sky will open, but when.