Ukraine Gets Patriot Air Defense Boost From NATO Ally

Kyiv will receive Patriot systems from two allies as the supply of the missile defense weapon by NATO countries becomes a focus for Ukraine which is struggling with continuous Russian bombardment of its cities.

The Patriot (Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target) is a sophisticated surface-to-air missile defense system considered one of the most advanced in the U.S. due to the capabilities of its radar, control station, power generators, launch stations and ancillary support vehicles.

Ukraine got its first Patriot battery from the U.S. in the first half of 2023, which has helped protect the sky from Russian attacks. But Kyiv has stepped up its calls for the systems as Russia has increased its use of ballistic and hypersonic missiles to attack Ukrainian infrastructure, in particular linked to the critical energy sector.

Without naming which one, Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said on Friday her country had “teamed up with another country” to supply Patriots to Kyiv and had assembled enough parts of the system for a full complex.

Ollongren did not say when the defense system would be transferred to Ukraine out of operational secrecy, Dutch news agency ANP reported. The Netherlands has provided Kyiv with launchers, equipment and training but this will be the first full Patriot system. Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian defense ministry.

It comes a day after Romania said it would give one of its two operational Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine on the condition there would be negotiations with its NATO allies over a replacement with a similar system.

It follows a report in the Financial Times that the U.S. could next week announce plans to divert to Kyiv Patriot air defense systems that had been planned for other countries. President Joe Biden said last week that a group of countries had agreed to send the systems as part of military assistance for Ukraine.

Earlier in June, German defense minister, Boris Pistorius, said Berlin would deliver another 100 Patriot air defense missiles to Kyiv as part of a collective effort also involving Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway.

Emphasizing the Russian aerial threat, Ukraine’s air defenses shot down all of the 13 Shahed-type attack drones and 12 of the 16 missiles launched by Russia overnight Friday, Ukraine’s Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said.

Russia launched the drones from the Russian port town of Primorsko-Akhtarsk on the Sea of Azov coast and Balaklava in Crimea, Meanwhile, 10 Kh-101/Kh-555 cruise missiles were fired from Tupolev Tu-95 bomber planes over Russia’s Saratov Oblast, Oleshchuk said.