Topline
In a $1.85 billion aid package to Ukraine, the Biden Administration is including the most advanced air defense system in the U.S. arsenal, the Patriot system, which Ukraine had been asking for, and some believe could be a game-changer in Russia's ongoing invasion of its neighbor.
A combat-ready Patriot anti-aircraft missile system of the Bundeswehr's anti-aircraft missile ... [+]
Key Facts
The Patriot, which stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target is built by Raytheon Technologies Corp., and is a surface-to-air missile and anti-ballistic system thought to be one of the most sophisticated in the world.
What makes the Patriot one of the most sought-out defense systems is its capability to stop cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles before they reach their intended target, as well as target aircrafts.
The system is mounted on trucks, making them mobile, and each system has a battery capable of holding up to four missiles with a total of eight launchers, and has a range between 20 to 100 miles.
Ukraine has been asking for the system since Russia ramped up its missile strikes on the recaptured Ukrainian city of Kherson, while also targeting power plants and other energy infrastructure, leaving millions without heat or electricity.
What the system means for Ukraine is a more advanced line of defense to protect itself from further Russian missile strikes.
The announcement to provide the air defense system was made on the same day Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky met with President Biden and members of Congress — his first trip outside the Ukraine since the war began.
The Biden Administration had already been in talks to send the Patriot, reports The Washington Post, and that the Pentagon was preparing to send the system over, despite prior hesitation to do so to avoid the ire of Russia.
Though the U.S. has agreed to deploy the system, it will take months before it touches Ukrainian soil as it first will reach Germany, reports Reuters, and will take months to train Ukrainian soldiers on how to operate the system, U.S. officials told Reuters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has already dismissed the patriot missile as “a pretty old system” in a press conference he held Thursday in Moscow, and said he was confident it would not pose a threat.
Crucial Quote
"Over the past three hundred days, the Kremlin has tried and failed to wipe Ukraine off the map. Now, Russia is trying to weaponize winter by freezing and starving Ukrainian civilians and forcing families from their homes," said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement. "In response. . . the United States is providing critical new and additional military capabilities to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia's ongoing brutal and unprovoked assault."
Contra
One of the main concerns about sending the Patriot to Ukrainian forces is the logistics of being able to operate the system. Just one Patriot battery would require 90 soldiers to operate and it comes with computers, a phased array radar, a control system and power generating equipment, according to the U.S. Army. Even though it was approved to be sent, it will realistically take some time before it reaches Ukraine soil as the Ukrainian forces must be trained on how to operate the system first which may take months. Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, a retired commander of the U.S. Army Europe, told CNN there are some unrealistic expectations of how effective the system could be. “These systems don’t pick up and move around the battlefield,” Hertling told CNN. “If anyone thinks this is going to be a system that is spread across a 500-mile border between Ukraine and Russia, they just don’t know how the system operates.”
Key Background
The Patriot system has been around since the mid-1980s after being recommended for deployment to Europe by the The Army and in 1985 passed a NATO tactical evaluation and became fully operational. It was not until 1991, during the Gulf War, when its ability to intercept and destroy Iraqi SCUD missiles aimed at Saudi Arabia was celebrated. According to Raytheon, the system is operated or at least bought by 17 nations which includes Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E. and Poland.
