US Set To Send Ukraine Patriot Missiles In Huge Escalation
CNN’s chief Pentagon correspondent is reporting the breaking news based on multiple anonymous US defense officials – including a senor Biden administration official – that the White House is currently finalizing plans to send Patriot missile defense systems to Ukraine.
“The Biden administration is finalizing plans to send the Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine that could be announced as soon as this week, according to two US officials and a senior administration official,” CNN writes. “The three officials told CNN that approval is expected.”
Patriot missile battery, DoD via AP.
If approved, this could be a tipping point in the conflict leading to direct confrontation between nuclear-armed powers given transfer of Patriots would mark the longest-range missiles sent to Ukraine thus far.
Washington has so far been reluctant, despite Kiev officials since nearly the start of the invasion making repeat pleas for them, to help “close the sky” – as President Zelensky many months ago urged Congress.
As The Guardian reviewed of the dangers involved in sending the Patriot:
“Long sought by the Ukrainians, the missiles have a range of up to 300km, but so far the US and its allies, including the UK, have declined to supply them because they could be used to hit targets inside Russia. Supplying them would help “bring the war to an end as soon as possible”, Johnson said.
Patriots have long been deployed in neighboring Poland, but Ukrainian leaders have been persistent in requesting them on their own soil amid a major uptick in recent Russian aerial attacks. Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson this week urged in a Wall Street Journal op-ed for the West to get serious about supplying Patriots and other anti-air systems, even including military aircraft.
It’s likely to take some time to deploy the Patriots, given Ukrainians are expected to be trained on operating the sophisticated systems US Army base in Grafenwoehr, Germany, per officials cited by CNN.
Kremlin Vows To Take Out Patriot Batteries If US Sends To Ukraine
Russia has responded Wednesday to the prior day report from Pentagon sources that the Biden administration is finalizing plans to send Patriot anti-air defense missiles to Ukraine, in what will constitute the longest range defense systems transferred from the West to date.
“The Kremlin said on Wednesday that U.S. Patriot missile defense systems would be a legitimate target for Russian strikes against Ukraine, should the United States authorize them to be delivered to support Kyiv,” Reuters reports.
The Russian military has long sought to target both Western arms depots inside Ukraine, as well as inbound shipments traversing the country, which is part of the reason why early on in the invasion it heavily targeted the national rail network.
Deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev posted the following warning statement directed at the US to his Telegram account (machine translation):
“If, as Stoltenberg hinted, NATO supplies Kyiv fanatics with Patriot complexes along with NATO personnel, they will immediately become a legitimate target of our Armed Forces. I hope the Atlantean impotents understand this.”
As for potential delivery of Patriot systems, The Washington Post reports according to the latest, “The plan is not yet approved by President Biden or Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, but it could be soon, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to detail sensitive internal deliberations.”
An initial CNN report said approval could come as early as this week, but it could take a significant amount of time to train the Ukrainians on the sophisticated Patriots’ operation. Training would likely occur in Germany and could take months.
The Washington Post notes further that the “Patriot-launched missiles can fly to altitudes as high as 79,000 feet, with an operational range, depending on the type of munition used, from a dozen to 100 miles, for use against ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as aircraft. It was not clear what kind of munitions the Pentagon will propose supplying.”
Ukraine now gets US Patriot missiles that cost the US taxpayer $3 million per missile to shoot down $30,000 Russian drones. The Russians can fire 100 drones for each US Patriot missile. The Pentagon strategists call this ‘unbalancing Russia’. pic.twitter.com/33kHrTEYk1
— Kim Dotcom (@KimDotcom) December 14, 2022
Range largely depends on the specific missile munition used, and it’s possible the Pentagon could limit ranges – as it reportedly did with HIMARS recently shipped to Ukraine, in order to prevent its systems being used by the Ukrainians to strike inside of Russia.
