A Patriot complex (Photo: New York Times).
The New York Times, citing a source familiar with the matter, reported that the White House and the Pentagon appear to have warned that US aid to Ukraine with Patriot interceptor missiles may soon become unsustainable because each missile is quite expensive, costing between $2-4 million.
In recent times, Russia has increased its winter attacks with many types of missiles and unmanned weapons, and Ukraine's defense system has become increasingly dependent on Patriot missiles.
Ukraine even claimed that Patriot shot down Russia's Kinzhal hypersonic missile with a 100% success rate on January 2. Russia has previously claimed that Patriot missiles are technically unable to intercept Kinzhal because their speed is much slower.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that so far all of Ukraine's Patriot complexes are strategically positioned around Kiev to protect the capital region, adding that he wants at least dozens more systems to protect other important cities such as Kherson and Odessa.
Dr. Jade McGlynn, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (USA), said that Russia increased missile attacks against Ukraine in the hope of further depleting Kiev's Patriot reserves.
Since Russia launched its military campaign in Ukraine, Moscow has fired 3,800 UAVs and 7,400 missiles at its neighbor, according to the New York Times.
The range of attacks was quite wide, making Ukraine a testing ground for various air defense systems, from truck-mounted Stingers to the advanced French-made SAMP/T.
Patriots are designed to defend against ballistic missiles. However, dwindling supplies of the missiles in the future have left Ukrainian commanders uncertain about their defense capabilities.
The US administration's request for an additional $61 billion in aid to Ukraine has been delayed by congressional Republicans who demand that military assistance to Ukraine be accompanied by tighter controls on the US-Mexico border.
While the supply of Patriot missiles to Ukraine is under threat, the placement of 1,000 of these missiles by four NATO countries has raised hopes that Ukraine may receive aid.
Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain have signed a contract to buy Patriot missiles worth $5.5 billion.
Source
Comment (0)