The United States is preparing to send the Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine to shoot down incoming Russian missiles, a decision that could be announced as early as this week, the newspaper said. VOA extension a US defense official and a second US official.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has not yet been formally announced. The decision was first reported by CNN.
Ukraine has asked its Western partners for air defenses, including the US-made Patriot system, as Russia has used its missile arsenal alongside newly acquired Iranian drones to attack critical civilian infrastructure, including electrical facilities needed to keep warm Iran. drop.
Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary, declined to comment on the Patriot battery transfer, saying he “had nothing to announce at this time.”
“We will continue to look for ways to better support Ukraine in protecting its population and protecting its broader infrastructure to survive these attacks,” Ryder said.
The United States has provided Ukraine with billions of dollars in military support, including air defense weapons ranging from the Stingers, a surface-to-air missile system light enough to be transported, to the larger NASAMS anti-aircraft systems, which can provide air defense against short attacks. Mid-range targets.
But on Tuesday, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat told reporters that Ukraine “still could not shoot down [misiles] ballistics with the means of air defense that we have in our arsenal”.
“Therefore, the most effective method of destroying these missiles is at launch, where they are,” he added.
Analyst warns of ‘limited return on investment’
NASAMS are designed to protect population centers from air-to-surface threats and can identify and target rotary and fixed-wing aircraft, cruise missiles and drones. NASAMS, however, are not considered effective against ballistic missiles.
Retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, a defense analyst with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, acknowledged that Ukraine “didn’t have the kind of weapon it needed” to defend against ballistic missiles, but criticized the potential Patriot acquisition.
“Patriot is an extremely complex and expensive system to operate. Each Patriot round costs between $3 [millones] and $4 million each. This is a very expensive system. It would eat up a lot of money that was set aside for them, I think, with very little return on investment,” he told VOA.
Montgomery also expressed concern that the supply of patriots to Ukraine would deplete the Ukrainian military’s already small pool of NASAMS operators.
Instead, he suggested sending more air defense weapons that Ukraine is already receiving and using to great effect, or perhaps supplying Ukraine with the Counter-Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar (C-RAM) system that the United States has been using in the Middle East. .
“To me, Patriot is not a great answer,” he said. “More NASAMS, more S-300, you know, more cowbell.”
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