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What can Patriot missiles do for Ukraine?

2022-12-15 23:47:38Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
What can Patriot missiles do for Ukraine?
Patriot missiles

Patriot missile systems have long been a favorite of the United States and allies for use in various war zones as a coveted shield to counter missile attacks.

In Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific, they serve to protect against possible strikes from Iran, Somalia and North Korea.

So it was a major turning point this week when news broke that the US had agreed to send the Patriot missile system to Ukraine, something Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been calling for for months to bolster air defenses. of his country.

American officials have confirmed the deal and an official announcement is expected soon. But experts warn that the system's effectiveness is limited and may not bring much change to Ukraine's confrontation with Russia.

What is "Patriot"?

The Patriot is a surface-to-air missile system that was first used in the 1980s and can target aircraft, sea-launched missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles.

A truck-mounted Patriot system includes up to eight launchers, each of which can carry four missiles, a ground-based radar, a control station and a generator.

The military said it currently has 16 Patriot units. A 2018 report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies found that these units control 50 batteries, which have more than 1,200 missiles.

US batteries are regularly used all over the world. In addition, Patriot systems have been used or purchased by the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Taiwan, Greece, Spain, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Romania, Sweden, Poland and Bahrain.

The Patriot system "is one of the most widely used and reliable air defense systems and can help Ukraine defend against ballistic missiles sent by Iran," said Tom Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic Studies. and International.

The cost of the Patriot system

Over the years, the Patriot system and missiles have been constantly modified. The current missile for the Patriot system costs roughly $4 million, and the launchers cost about $10 million each, according to a July report on the U.S. military's missile defense system. At this price, it is not effective to use the Patriot system to shoot down the much smaller and many times cheaper Iranian drones that Russia has purchased and used in Ukraine.

"Hitting a $50,000 drone with a million-dollar missile is not a good idea," said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps colonel.

Concerns about their deployment

About 90 soldiers are required to maintain the system, but only three are needed to strike. For months, the US hesitated to send this complex system to Ukraine, because sending forces to Ukraine was not in the interest of the US administration.

But there were also concerns that deploying the system would provoke Russia, or risk a missile landing inside Russia, which could further escalate the conflict.

On Thursday, Russia's Foreign Ministry warned that a US plan to deliver sophisticated air defense missiles to Ukraine would be "another provocative move by the US" that could prompt a reaction from Moscow. But according to officials, the demands of Ukrainian leaders and the destruction of the country's civilian infrastructure, including the blackout of electricity and heating, exceeded the American reserves to supply the Patriot system.

A major hurdle will be training. US troops will have to train Ukrainian forces on how to use and maintain the system.

The US has trained Ukrainian troops in other complex weapons systems, including the High Mobility Artillery Missile Systems, known as HIMARS. In many cases they have been able to cut training short, getting Ukrainian troops to the frontline within weeks. Officials have refused to provide details on how long the training for the "Patriot" system will take and where exactly it will take place.

Capabilities of the Patriot system

Ukraine faces a number of Russian threats, and the Patriot system may be useful in some cases, but not in others. A former senior military official with knowledge of the Patriot system said the system will be effective against short-range ballistic missiles and represents a strong message of US support, but a system will not change the course of the war. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal with Ukraine has not yet been made public, noted that a Patriot system has a long strike range but can only cover a limited area. As an example, the Patriot system can effectively protect a small military base, but cannot fully protect a large city such as Kiev. The system can only protect a part of the city.

A 1992 Government Accountability Office report said it could find no evidence to support reports that the system had achieved a 70% success rate against Scud missiles in the Gulf War. In 2018, Saudi Arabia's successful use of the Patriot system against missiles fired by rebels in Yemen was called into question when videos surfaced of the system's failure.


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

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