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According to US media, the Pentagon is finalising plans to send Patriot missile batteries to Ukraine to shoot down incoming missiles. As Russia has increased missile strikes on key Ukrainian infrastructure, US officials told The New York Times and CNN that the deployment could be announced as early as this week.
Ukraine’s air defences were critical during Russia’s invasion, but with Moscow stepping up attacks on energy infrastructure as it suffers growing losses on the ground, Kyiv has repeatedly pressed other countries, particularly the United States, for the Patriot system.
Patriot, which consists of multiple components such as radar, a control station, power generation equipment, and up to eight launchers, is described by the US Army as its “most advanced air defence system.”
While a battery may have dozens of personnel assigned to it, only three are required to operate it in combat.
The US Army activated the first Patriot battalion in 1982, but the system was not used in combat until 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, an international air and ground offensive against Iraqi forces that had invaded Kuwait.
Since 2015, Patriot has intercepted more than 150 ballistic missiles in combat and has undergone more than 3,000 ground and 1,400 flight tests, according to primary contractor Raytheon.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, its air defences were largely comprised of Soviet-era planes and missile systems, which Kyiv used effectively to deny Moscow air superiority.
They have since been significantly supplemented: the United States provided NASAMS and Germany provided IRIS-T, two advanced systems, while older equipment such as the S-300 and HAWK systems, as well as Stinger missiles, have also been donated.
