Washington is reportedly set to deliver Patriot surface-to-air missile systems to Ukraine.
The Pentagon is currently finalizing the plans, US media reported, citing American officials, with the move expected within days. The decision to provide Kiev authorities with the advanced long-range air defense system they have long sought still requires approval from the US Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, before it gets a final sign-off from President Joe Biden.
After the formalities are completed, the Patriots are to be shipped to their destination within days, added the report, with Ukrainians being trained at the US Army base in Grafenwoehr, Germany to use the missile batteries.
US soldiers walk between tents at the United States Army military training base in Grafenwoehr, southern Germany, on March 11, 2022.
© CHRISTOF STACHE
There has been no clarity about how many missile launchers will be sent to Ukraine.
A typical Patriot battery incorporates a radar set for detecting and tracking targets, computers, power-generating equipment, an engagement control station and up to eight launchers, each equipped with four missiles, the report specified.
Neither the Pentagon, nor the US State Department have offered any official comment on the report.
The Patriot (“Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept of Target”) air defense missile system, first deployed in 1982 and upgraded several times since, is designed to counter and destroy incoming short-range ballistic missiles, advanced aircraft and cruise missiles.
The US has sent Patriot missiles to Saudi Arabia, Iraq, to the Pacific region, and, most recently, to Poland.
"This defensive deployment is being conducted proactively to counter any potential threat to US and Allied forces and NATO territory. This is a prudent force protection measure that underpins our commitment to Article Five and will in no way support any offensive operations,” Capt. Adam Miller, spokesman for US European Command, said in a statement on 13 December.
'Logistical Challenges'
The Kiev regime has been clamoring for Patriot batteries for months. However, delivery and operation of what has been the mainstay of US military operations is reportedly fraught with "logistical challenges". Thus, to operate Patriot missile batteries properly much larger crews are needed, with dozens of adequately trained personnel. This training, specifically for Patriot missile batteries, may require many months, the report said.
Nevertheless, “the reality of what is going on the ground” prompted Washington to make the decision, a Biden administration official was cited as saying.
In late November, US Defense Department spokesman Pat Ryder said that the United States did not have any plans to provide Patriot missile systems to Ukraine, despite air defense continuing to be "a top priority for the Defense Department and for the international community when it comes to supporting Ukraine."
Advanced systems such as the Patriot missile system need significant maintenance and training, which is accounted for when determining what aid to send Ukraine, Ryder said, adding that "we’ll continue to have those discussions".
However, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken then proceeded to tell media at the same time that Washington was “very focused” on providing air defense systems to Ukraine.
The alliance of western countries has continued to funnel military and financial assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched its special military operation on 24 February. Despite Moscow warning that the supply of weapons to Kiev are only prolonging the conflict, and regardless of their own increasingly depleted stockpiles, Washington and its NATO allies have shown no sign of relenting.
Responding to increasing reports that US weaponry bound for Ukraine had been “vanishing”, only to resurface on the black market, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder told reporters on 13 December that the department had "no credible information" that would indicate that any of the supplies sent to Ukraine has been diverted to illicit means.
Russia has denounced the flow of weapons to Ukraine from the collective West and warned that any cargo containing weapons bound for Ukraine is a legitimate target.