The new military aid package for Kyiv will include one battery of Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems, US President Joe Biden said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.

“It is very important that in addition to new capabilities such as precision-guided airborne munitions, the package will include a Patriot SAM battery, which we will train Ukrainian forces to use as part of ongoing efforts to bolster Ukraine’s air defenses,” Biden said.

He added that it will "take some time" to complete the necessary preparation of the Patriot battery calculation.

Nevertheless, according to Biden, this air defense system will become "another major asset for Ukraine."

Answering a question from journalists whether the transfer of complexes could lead to an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, the head of the White House drew attention to the fact that Patriot is a defensive system.

“This is a defensive weapons complex.

It is not aimed at escalation.

It is defensive in nature.

And we would like them (Ukrainian troops. -

RT

) not to use it, ”said Biden.

In turn, Zelensky called the upcoming delivery of Patriot "the most impressive component" of the new aid package.

According to the President of Ukraine, the SAM battery will "significantly strengthen" the country's air defense.

“This is the most important step to ensure safe airspace over Ukraine,” Zelensky added.

Recall that Patriot is an American long-range anti-aircraft system designed for air defense of large military installations and administrative and industrial centers.

The maximum interception range for certain targets does not exceed 160 km.

The Patriot battery is the smallest tactical fire unit capable of independently performing combat missions.

It can include from four to eight launchers. 

  • Volodymyr Zelensky and Joe Biden at a meeting at the White House

  • © Telegram channel of Vladimir Zelensky

There are two versions of the Patriot in service with the American Armed Forces: the PAC-2 and the updated PAC-3.

At the moment, Washington has not specified which version of the air defense system the Kyiv regime will receive.

According to the American media, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will receive a complex from the stocks of the American Armed Forces.

On the eve of Zelensky's visit to Washington, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev and press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov stated that if the Patriot were transferred to Kyiv, they would become a legitimate target for the Russian army.

And Vladimir Putin, commenting on the upcoming deliveries of Patriot systems to Ukraine, called this US decision a prolongation of the conflict and expressed confidence that Russian troops would "click" these air defense systems.

“As for the Patriot, this is a fairly old system.

It does not work like, say, our S-300.

Well, nevertheless, those who oppose us proceed from the fact that this is supposedly a defensive weapon.

OK.

We will just keep this in mind, there will always be an antidote, ”Putin said during a press conference on December 22.

"Difficult equipment"

Ukraine has repeatedly asked NATO countries to transfer Patriot to it to protect it from Russian precision weapons.

In this regard, the Kyiv regime pinned special hopes on Germany, but in Berlin they announced the absence of available air defense systems for sending the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

At the same time, in mid-December, reports began to appear in the American media that the Pentagon plans to transfer Patriot to Ukraine.

For example, as stated in a December 13 article in The Washington Post, the White House is ready to approve the delivery of air defense systems if the US Department of Defense resolves issues related to the preparation of Ukrainian calculations, maintenance, “legal issues” and “consequences for the combat readiness” of the US Armed Forces.

According to the publication, the training of anti-aircraft gunners of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, most likely, will take place in Germany.

At the same time, a retired US Navy officer and an employee of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Mark Kansian, in a commentary to WP, was skeptical about the effect of the appearance of Patriot in the arsenal of the Ukrainian army.

In particular, he drew attention to the fact that such sophisticated equipment needs long-term and high-quality training for the military personnel who will operate it.

“This will be the most difficult piece of equipment Ukraine has received so far.

If the Ukrainians had a year or two to master the complex, there would be no such problem.

I think the Pentagon is very worried about this,” says Kansian.

A similar point of view on his Twitter was expressed by former US Army General Mark Hertling.

According to him, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will not be able to use the Patriot air defense system immediately after the complexes arrive in Ukraine.

Hertling believes it takes months of training and dozens of well-trained anti-aircraft gunners to operate the Patriot.

Experts interviewed by RT adhere to a similar assessment.

According to military expert Ivan Konovalov, the development of the Patriot should take at least six months.

“Given that the operation of the Patriot, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will need well-trained military personnel, and the Ukrainian army clearly has personnel problems, such training can stretch not only for six months, as the American media write, but even for an indefinite time,” suggested Konovalov.

  • SAM Patriot

  • Gettyimages.ru

  • © Sean Gallup

In a RT commentary, Alexei Podberyozkin, director of the Center for Military-Political Research, in turn, admitted that after the Patriot was delivered to the Kyiv regime, American specialists would participate in the operation of these air defense systems, and they would be controlled by US intelligence.

“There is no doubt that the US military will participate in the management of the Patriot with the help of space reconnaissance and early warning aircraft.

There may be such specialists on earth, ”Podberyozkin believes.

Experts believe that Patriot has a chance for effective use if Ukraine's air defense is integrated into the NATO air defense system, which is what the Kyiv regime is trying to achieve.

However, they doubt that the alliance will go for it, since such a move would mean drawing the bloc into a conflict with Russia.

"Not an omnipotent system"

On the eve of the announcement of the transfer of the Patriot to the Kyiv regime, the British edition of The Guardian published an article about the risks that the United States is exposed to in this situation.

The author of the article was Jack Watling, a senior researcher at the Royal Joint Institute for Defense Studies, who specializes in ground combat.

According to the analyst, having received the Patriot, Kyiv will free up some of the capabilities for the Ukrainian S-300 anti-aircraft systems and increase the area of ​​​​covered airspace.

Nevertheless, full-fledged protection of the energy infrastructure of Ukraine, which has recently been attacked by the RF Armed Forces, will not be provided.

In addition, as Watling writes, in an effort to help Ukraine, the United States may face the problem of providing anti-aircraft missiles to its own troops and foreign Patriot operators.

The author recalled that the Armed Forces of Ukraine spend a huge amount of ammunition.

At the same time, missiles for air defense systems are high-precision weapons, the production of which requires a lot of time.

In a conversation with RT, Sergey Denisentsev, an expert at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, expressed confidence that it was too early to draw conclusions about the possible effectiveness of using the Patriot, primarily due to the lack of information about the configuration of the promised APU kit.

“It is known that this will be a battery, but the modification and the number of launchers are not reported.

There is also no data on the ammunition load - it is obvious that the Ukrainian army will need a significant number of missiles - probably hundreds of units.

Most likely, the Patriot will be deployed for the defense of Kyiv, but due to the lack of complete information about the composition of the air defense system for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, it is unrealistic to make any forecasts,” Denisentsev said.

At the same time, the specialist doubts that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will use the technical ability of the Patriot to fire at ground targets.

According to him, Ukrainian troops are unlikely to receive appropriate permission from the Pentagon.

“Patriot, like the S-300, can fire at any radio-contrast targets, including ground targets.

But I doubt that the Armed Forces of Ukraine will go for it.

Patriot has very expensive missiles, they will obviously be protected.

As I think, the United States will determine the range of goals for which Patriot should be used, ”Denisentsev argues.

  • Rocket launch from Patriot

  • © Raytheon Technologies Corporation

He believes that the transfer of Patriot to the Ukrainian side carries certain risks for the United States - first of all, these are reputational losses in case of misses on Russian targets or the destruction of elements of the complex by the Russian Armed Forces.

According to Denisentsev, the Patriot battery will not be an easy target, but Moscow has the means to detect and destroy this air defense system.

A similar point of view is shared by Ivan Konovalov.

According to him, the American air defense system is inferior to Russian long-range air defense systems in a number of key characteristics.

“The real combat use of the Patriot allows us to conclude that this is by no means an all-powerful air defense system.

This was demonstrated by the attack on Saudi Aramco facilities in 2019, when Patriots were unable to repel missiles and UAVs.

As for the special military operation, even during this conflict, these air defense systems will not be able to solve all the problems faced by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, ”concluded Konovalov.