After long weeks of hesitation, the United States should record the delivery of Patriot anti-aircraft missile batteries to kyiv in the coming days, according to American media. A strong political signal, motivated by the intensification of Russian strikes against the country’s energy infrastructure since the beginning of October.
“From a qualitative point of view, this is a new significant step in the support provided to Ukraine, judge Marc Chassillan, military engineer and specialist defense consultant. These systems could make it possible to create bubbles of protection above certain areas that Ukrainians want to sanctuary, such as cities, ports, or industrial centers.” A medium-range surface-to-air missile system, the Patriot is designed to detect and intercept any aerial threat – including ballistic missiles – at a range of up to 160 kilometers. Very mobile, each battery is mounted on a truck or trailer and has a high performance radar.
The prospect of sending them to Ukraine aroused the ire of Moscow on Thursday, December 15. “Many experts, including abroad, doubt the wisdom of such a move, which would lead to an escalation of the conflict and increase the risk of direct US military involvement in hostilities,” he said. a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, warning that these new materials would constitute “legitimate military targets”.
The crucial question of the number
Despite protests from Moscow, their delivery does not constitute in the eyes of the experts a tipping point in the military aid provided by the West. “We are rather in the continuation of the deployment of equipment for the benefit of Ukraine, underlines General Dominique Trinquand, military expert and former head of the French mission to the UN. Their objective will be above all to protect the civilian population and Ukrainian infrastructure against Russian strikes.”
An analysis shared by Marc Chassillan. “The Patriot is a high performance system, but which remains fundamentally defensive, points out the military engineer. It’s not as if the West had suddenly decided to provide modern combat tanks, fighter-bombers, or long-range missiles like the ATACMS that the Ukrainians are asking for.”
Especially since the delivery of Patriot missiles would not constitute an entirely new device for kyiv. “They will allow the Ukrainians to progress in quality and performance, but it is a category of anti-aircraft defense which he already had with the Russian S-300s, notes Marc Chassillan. In addition, it will be necessary to pay attention to the number of systems which are sent , because one or two batteries will not be enough to change the course of the war.”
Problem, Western armies do not have a large quantity of these anti-aircraft systems and their stock of missiles is limited. Added to this is the question of price: each Patriot missile costs around 3 million dollars. The system also requires significant training to be able to be used and requires around 90 soldiers to implement all of its components.
However, the Patriots anti-missile batteries would not be the only equipment of its category to come to furnish the arsenal of the Ukrainian army. According to a hearing at the Assembly of the French ambassador to Ukraine, Etienne de Poncins, made public on December 13, kyiv should also soon obtain the delivery of a Franco-Italian SAMP/T Mamba anti-aircraft system. “It’s a very strong request that President Zelensky has made and the Italians have confirmed to us that they are ready to grant it,” he said. The European counterpart of the Patriot, this medium-range system developed by MBDA and Thales, is armed with eight missiles with a range of up to 100 kilometers. A timely complement to protect the Ukrainian sky.