Europe | Quick on the draw

Patriots promise Ukraine its first defence against ultra-fast Russian missiles

Ukraine says they also bring it a step closer to NATO

The Army test fires a Patriot missile in a recent test. The Patriot missile system is a ground-based, mobile missile defense interceptor deployed by the United States to detect, track and engage unmanned aerial vehicles, cruise missiles, and short-range and tactical ballistic missiles. Patriot, along with other missile defense systems, are included in the Army Air and Missile Defense 2028, which provides the Army’s overarching vision for the AMD force, describes how the AMD force is postured to support the Army and joint forces, and articulates what must be accomplished to achieve the 2028 desired end state of preventing and defeating adversary air and missile attacks through a combination of deterrence, active and passive defense, and support to attack operations. (U.S. Army photo)
Image: U.S. Army

AT ABOUT 15:30 on January 14th, as millions of Ukrainians were relaxing at home after Saturday lunch, a Tupolev Tu-22M3 warplane hovering over Russia’s Kursk region fired a Kh-22 missile, equipped with a 950kg warhead, towards Ukraine. Half an hour later the missile, designed to destroy aircraft carriers, struck an apartment block in Dnipro, a city in central Ukraine. The attack killed at least 46 people, burying them and some survivors under nine floors of rubble.

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