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US to redirect Patriot air defense orders to Ukraine
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The US is halting supplies of Patriot interceptor missiles to other nations so it can speed up orders for Ukraine to bolster its air defenses against Russian attacks.
Three people with knowledge of the decision said the measure would be announced on Thursday, after President Joe Biden said last week in Italy, which had secured commitments to deliver additional air defense systems to Ukraine. This would include Patriot missile batteries, which Kiev has been clamoring for after Russia stepped up missile and drone attacks on its power plants.
Biden said five countries have agreed to send the Patriot and other air defense systems to Ukraineand that other countries awaiting delivery of US systems would have to wait because “everything we have will go to Ukraine until its needs are met.”
Standing alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the two signed an agreement 10-year defense pact On the sidelines of the G7 summit in Puglia, Biden added that Kiev would start receiving more systems “relatively quickly”.
The US announcement on Thursday will codify Biden’s commitment to Kiev and ensure Ukraine gets the Patriot systems it needs to protect its cities and critical infrastructure, two people with knowledge of the decision told the Financial Times.
Spain, Greece and Romania have Patriots in their arsenals, but have so far refused to authorize transfers of launch systems to Ukraine. Poland said its Patriots are protecting infrastructure used to send Western weaponry across its border into Ukraine and are therefore already deployed to help protect the war-torn country.
Additionally, Italy said this month it would send Kiev a second SAMP/T air defense system, a European-made alternative to the Patriot.
U.S. and Ukrainian officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
US-made Patriot systems are Washington’s most advanced air defense weapons. They consist of a radar system and mobile launchers that can fire interceptor missiles at incoming projectiles or aircraft.
Zelenskyy called them “the most effective air defense system in the world today” and said they were capable of shooting down all Russian missiles, including ballistic ones. He said in April that “to fully protect Ukraine in the future, Ukraine would need 25 Patriot systems with six to eight batteries each.”
He and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba have since told NATO allies that Ukraine needs a minimum of seven Patriot systems to effectively cover the country’s airspace.
Ukraine currently has at least four Patriot systems, supplied by the US and Germany. Since Zelenskyy made a call for additional deliveries this spring, Germany has said it would send an additional battery, and the Netherlands has announced an initiative to send another based on components supplied by several countries. Biden then approved the deployment of another Patriot air defense system in Ukraine last week.
Patriot systems and their interceptor missiles helped protect important government buildings and critical infrastructure in Kiev and other cities across the country.
In at least one case, a Patriot missile shot down a Russian A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft over the Sea of Azov in January, according to two Ukrainian officials with knowledge of the operation and Col. Rosanna Clemente, deputy chief of state. U.S. 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command major, speaking on a panel this month.
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Russia knocked out or captured more than half of Ukraine’s power generationcausing the worst rolling blackouts since its full-scale invasion in 2022. Moscow’s latest wave of missile and drone attacks have targeted Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, including thermal and hydropower plants, which are much more difficult and more expensive. to repair, rebuild or replace.
“Addressing munitions shortages and coverage gaps in Ukraine’s air defense is essential for the country to defend critical infrastructure, and no less important than stabilizing the front line,” said Michael Kofman, senior fellow at the Russia and Eurasia at the Carnegie Endowment. for International Peace.
“Russian strikes have significantly damaged Ukraine’s non-nuclear power generation capabilities, and Russian drones are increasingly capable of targeting Ukrainian positions behind front lines due to a lack of air defense coverage.”
Additional reporting by Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington and Henry Foy in Brussels