According to US media, the Pentagon is finalizing plans to send Patriot missile batteries to Ukraine that can shoot down incoming missiles.
As Russia has increased missile strikes on key Ukrainian infrastructure, US officials told The New York Times and CNN that the deployment could be announced as soon as this week.
Ukraine’s air defenses were critical during Russia’s invasion, but with Moscow increasing its attacks on energy infrastructure as it suffers growing losses on the ground, Kyiv has repeatedly pressed other countries, particularly the US, for the Patriot system.
Patriot is the US Army’s “most advanced air defence system,” consisting of multiple components such as a radar, a control station, power generation equipment, and up to eight launchers.
While a battery may have dozens of personnel assigned to it, only three are required to operate it in combat.
The US Army activated the first Patriot battalion in 1982, but the system was not used in combat until 1991, during Operation Desert Storm, an international air and ground offensive against Iraqi forces that had invaded Kuwait.
Since 2015, Patriot has intercepted more than 150 ballistic missiles in combat and has undergone more than 3,000 ground and 1,400 flight tests, according to primary contractor Raytheon.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in February, its air defences were largely comprised of Soviet-era planes and missile systems, which Kyiv effectively used to deny Moscow air superiority.
They have since been significantly supplemented: the US provided NASAMS and Germany provided IRIS-T, two advanced systems, while older equipment such as the S-300 and HAWK systems, as well as Stinger missiles, have also been donated.
