US-made Patriot missile systems arrive in Ukraine

Europe, News, US April 20, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced on April 19, 2023, that Raytheon’s technology’s Patriot missile system has arrived in Ukraine. Kyiv has expressed a persistent desire to obtain surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missile systems for a long time.

“Today, our beautiful Ukrainian sky becomes more secure because Patriot air defense systems have arrived in Ukraine,” Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced via Twitter.

Without mentioning the total number of the missiles delivered to Ukraine, Reznikov praised the U.S. and European allies, particularly Germany and Netherlands for keeping their word and making the delivery of the high-tech missile system possible.

Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat also confirmed the delivery of the missile system by stating that the addition of the Patriot missiles to Ukrainian air defense is a landmark event. It would allow Ukraine to knock out Russian targets at a greater distance.

Delivery of the Patriot missile system was carried out through Germany. Germany’s federal government listed a Patriot system as among the military items delivered within the past week to Ukraine. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock confirmed that the delivery had been carried out successfully, however, the number of delivered missiles remains unclear.

Patriots are often deployed as a battalion, which includes four batteries, however, it is highly unlikely that the U.S. delivered as many missiles to Ukraine to be deployed in the form of battalions. The Patriot has a more powerful radar that is better at discriminating targets than the Soviet-era S-300 system the Ukrainians have been using.

According to Raytheon, the U.S.-based defense giant and manufacturer of the Patriot missile systems, it has a success rate of at least 70%. Raytheon also claims that the missile system has been involved in 150 intercepts of ballistic missiles since 2015.

*^{U.S. Army Patriot Missile Systems during a military training exercise. (Image Credit: U.S. Army)}*

Ukrainian officials had repeatedly been asking the U.S. for the Patriot missiles. Reznikov said that he asked for Patriot systems when he visited the U.S. in August 2021, only five months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine started.

Earlier in 2021, U.S. officials told Reznikov that it was impossible to deliver the system without proper training and ground preparedness. As many as 90 Ukrainian military personnel received extensive training for the U.S. forces before the missile systems could be delivered to Kyiv.

The Patriot missile system was first developed by the U.S. in the 1980s. Each missile costs about $4 million while the launching setup costs around $10 million. Many analysts believe that using Patriots missiles to shoot down Russian Iranian-made Kamikaze drones would not be feasible, hence, the delivery of the missile system is more of a statement of solidarity, rather than a practical advantage for Ukraine in the ongoing war.