The air defense system under discussion is deployed in key areas of Europe (eg Germany, Greece) and the Middle East (Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar), as well as Japan and Taiwan. These complexes have been in service since the 1980s and can hit cruise missiles, military aircraft, and short-range ballistic missiles. The United States hesitated for a long time whether to transfer such modern equipment to Kyiv, but in the end, “it seems that Kyiv will receive what it has been waiting for months.”
This system is extremely expensive – an interceptor missile costs about $4 million, so it should be used for serious purposes, and not against, for example, drones. Also, the system is not easy to use: up to 90 soldiers are required to operate a battery.
“Missiles fired from the Patriot system can end up on Russian territory. Does this mean that Patriot systems can also be used as an offensive weapon? Of course, if you interpret the downing of an aircraft in foreign airspace as an offensive situation. Of course , Ukraine can always say that it has arguments for this, but if it does it with the new US weapons, things will quickly get complicated,” Rocha said.
Not only this may not be suitable for the United States – as soon as air defense systems appear in Ukraine, they will become a legitimate target for attacks by the Russian army. They will also try to find out everything they can about them in the field, and the Americans “of course, will not be satisfied with such a detailed study.” As a result, the columnist believes, the supply of new air defense is unlikely to lead to a turning point at the front, but only demonstrate Washington’s devotion to Kyiv.
