US President Joe Biden has approved the transfer and deployment of another Patriot air defense system to Ukraine. The US president made this decision last week after high-level meetings and internal debates on how to help Kyiv strengthen its air defense.
The New York Times reports this with reference to senior Biden administration officials and the military, Babel informs.
The new Patriot system will be delivered to Ukraine from Poland, where it previously protected rotational forces of US troops returning to the United States.
The air defense system could be deployed to the front line in the next few days. However, this depends on whether it needs maintenance or modification.Citing scarcity and importance for its own defense, the Pentagon decided not to move any Patriot batteries from the United States.
Washington hopes that European countries will be more active in sharing their Patriots with Ukraine. It is currently known that Germany and the Netherlands are preparing to provide Ukraine with another Patriot system.
Patriot is considered one of the best air defense systems, but also one of the most scarce. According to a representative of the US Department of Defense, the US Army has deployed only 14 Patriots in the United States and around the world.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Western countries have provided Ukraine with various air defense systems. All missiles can be shot down only by the US Patriot missile defense systems, of which Ukraine has only three. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has repeatedly called on foreign partners to provide Ukraine with 5-7 Patriot systems and called this number the minimum required. To fully protect the skies over Ukraine, 25 Patriot systems are needed.
