“We need 25 systems to close the skies over Ukraine completely,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in July 2024, speaking about Patriot batteries. His reasoning was blunt: “nothing else works against ballistic threats.”
The Patriot is a US-made system of radar and mobile launchers firing interceptors at incoming missiles and aircraft. In Ukraine it is the main weapon able to destroy Russian ballistic missiles, the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal “hypersonic” missile among them, Euromaidan Press reported.
How many Ukraine had
Through 2023 the count was small. Ukraine got one Patriot system each from the United States and Germany in mid-2022, and a second German system became operational in December 2023, according to the Kyiv Post. On December 20, 2023, Zelensky told a press conference that another system was expected from Germany and that more would arrive in early 2024. He would not say which countries or when, citing “very serious and difficult” negotiations.
Cost and supply were open problems. Each Patriot missile costs $4 million, and global ammunition stocks were shrinking. The Washington Post reported that the US and Japan planned an agreement to let Japanese-made Patriot missiles go to American forces, so the Pentagon could replenish what it sent to Ukraine in 2024.
Cheaper layers
Patriots were not the only answer. The Kyiv Post said Ukraine expected 19 NASAMS anti-aircraft systems from the US, Canada, Norway and Lithuania, with Norway planning $32.5 million for extra missiles and support equipment. Ukraine would also receive AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles modified for ground launchers. They are less capable than Patriots or NASAMS but cost 15-20 times less than a Patriot missile, according to Defense Ekspres.
The July 2024 pledge
At the NATO summit in Washington, allies announced five new air defense batteries: four Patriot and one SAMP/T, from the US, Germany, Romania, the Netherlands and Italy. Zelensky called the decision on five systems “an earnest contribution,” well short of his figure of 25. Partners also signed the Ukraine Compact, which ties together countries that have bilateral security agreements with Kyiv into one coordinated system.
Sources
- Ukraine's Air Defenses to Get Beefier, Zelensky Announces More Patriots Soon (Kyiv Post)
- Zelenskyy calls for more Patriot air defense systems to protect Ukraine (Euromaidan Press)
