The Eastern European country of Ukraine announced on Wednesday that it has received the first Patriot air defense system, one of the most advanced US air defense systems in the world. Ukraine’s defense minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, shared the news on Twitter, saying that ‘Today, our beautiful Ukrainian sky becomes more secure because Patriot air defense systems have arrived in Ukraine.’ He added that the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands had kept their word in delivering the promised air defense systems.
In January, Germany had announced that it would be sending one of the most advanced missile defense batteries to Ukraine, and the Netherlands followed suit, saying it would supply parts of a Patriot air defense system, specifically two launchers and missiles. The US announced in December 2021 that it would also send the Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine. This move came after Russia bombed Ukraine’s energy infrastructure from the air. In January 2022, around 100 Ukrainian troops trained on the Patriot missile defense system in the United States since Patriots require extensive, hands-on training outside of Europe.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the system would ‘significantly’ strengthen Ukraine’s defense against Russian strikes. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously threatened to destroy the Patriot missiles.
The MIM-104 Patriot is the US Army’s top-tier surface-to-air guided missile system, which targets ballistic and cruise missiles as well as manned and unmanned aircraft. The defense system was first deployed in the 1980s and is manufactured by Virginia-based Raytheon Technologies. The US Army currently has 16 Patriot battalions, which are regularly deployed across the world, with at least 16 countries, including Taiwan, Japan, Israel, and South Korea, currently operating or purchasing them, according to the Associated Press.
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