The USA provides Ukraine with PATRIOT air defense systems – CNN and Reuters
The White House is finalizing preparations to send the PATRIOT missile defense system to Ukraine, which can be announced as early as this week.
This is reported by the American mass media with reference to sources.
CNN and Reuters report that Washington is “finalizing arrangements” for the transfer of the PATRIOT system. According to them, a decision can be made already this week.
The possible transfer of the new air defense system was first reported by CNN, citing anonymous high-ranking officials.
“The Pentagon’s plan must be approved by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin before being sent to President Joe Biden for his signature. Three officials confirmed to CNN that such approval is expected,” the broadcaster reported.
CNN interlocutors did not say exactly how many institutions Ukraine can get. Journalists mention that one PATRIOT battery also consists of a radar, a car – a command post, auxiliary equipment and up to eight launchers of 4 missiles in the skin.
The Ukrainian authorities have not yet confirmed the reports of the American media.
However, the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, who loves encrypted posts, started talking about the arrival of new Western weapons to the Armed Forces, and posted another “rebus” on his social networks in the evening of December 13. A hint of the PATRIOT anti-aircraft missile system can be seen in it.
The Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Oleksiy Reznikov, predicted that the USA would provide Kiev with PATRIOT systems, but at the “next stage of the war”.
“We have been discussing (transferring PATRIOT) with our partners for a long time, because this system is expensive and developed with a high degree of complexity. I believe that PATRIOT can also appear on our battlefield, but at a later stage,” he noted . Reznikov in a comment on CNN.
What is PATRIOT and why it is extremely necessary for Ukraine
One of its main advantages is the ability to shoot down not only aircraft, cruise missiles, but also ballistic missiles.
It is this type of missile that most annoys the Ukrainian air defense forces, because it is almost impossible to intercept it. The missile does not fly above the surface of the earth, but rises along a ballistic trajectory upwards and from there attacks the target almost vertically at great speed.
As the American manufacturer appears, the new PATRIOT system can reflect ballistic missiles at an altitude of up to 20 km.
In America, the PATRIOT system began to be developed in the mid-1980s. It was used in combat conditions in the early 1990s during the Persian Gulf War.
The systems choose surface-to-air guided missiles to hit targets, and also have highly effective radar stations.
The name PATRIOT is an acronym and stands for “Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target”.
The main advantages of this complex are the high speed of bringing it into combat readiness, the ability to fire at several targets at the same time, high maneuverability and jam resistance.
Another feature of the latest modification (RAS-3) is the inclusion of an interceptor missile at the target, and not detonation next to it.
PATRIOT systems are in service with several countries, except the United States. We are talking about Germany, Sweden, Japan, Kuwait.
The Ukrainian Air Force Command has already stated that the PATRIOT complexes can be effectively integrated into the domestic air defense system.