In a press convention following the primary consultation of the NATO Foreign Affairs Ministers’ meeting, a reporter requested General Jens Stoltenberg why the United States become unwilling to offer Ukraine Patriot air protection structures while it has given the machine to different non-NATO nations.
In his reaction, the NATO Secretary skirted the query however showed that there may be an ongoing dialogue among the United States and its NATO allies on imparting Ukraine with Patriot structures.
Also, on November 9, 2022, answering a journalist’s query at a ordinary press briefing, Pentagon spokesman Air Force General Patrick Ryder said, “We don’t have any plans to switch Patriot complexes to Ukraine.”
Elaborating on his assertion, the General introduced that imparting Ukraine with air protection structures is one of the priorities of the United States army department. “We will hold to have discussions approximately this. If we’ve some thing to announce, we are able to do it,” he introduced.
The studied ambivalence of US and NATO officers didn’t idiot Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.
Reacting to Stoltenberg’s assertion, Medvedev wrote a publish on his Telegram channel stating, “If, as [NATO Secretary General Jens] Stoltenberg hinted, NATO resources Kyiv lovers with Patriot complexes along side NATO personnel, they may without delay grow to be a valid goal of our armed forces.”
Earlier, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht instructed the Rheinische Post that Germany become prepared to deliver Patriot batteries to Poland to protect in opposition to missile assaults from Ukrainian airspace.
Strangely, her Polish colleague Mariusz Blaszczak counseled that Germany as an alternative deliver the batteries to Ukraine. (Poland has already ordered a sophisticated variation of the Patriot machine that mixes the talents of Israel’s David’s Sling software with Patriot PAC-three radars).
The German protection minister brushed off the Polish concept pronouncing that putting Patriot batteries in Ukraine could require near consultations with NATO partners.
Reasons For Western Hesitancy & Medvedev’s Threat
Clearly, there may be some thing approximately the Patriot machine that makes the United States and a few NATO nations cautious of handing it over to Ukraine. But then, why are they thinking about the option?
Also, why is Medvedev caution of escalation?
The M-104 Patriot is a cell medium-variety surface-to-air missile machine able to attractive aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones. It’s the number one AD missile machine of the United States Army and numerous NATO nations.
The machine has additionally been bought to non-NATO nations which includes Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Japan, Morocco, Qatar, UAE, Taiwan, etc.
The Patriot missile machine functions superior era subsystems which includes a single PESA/AESA radar this is able to monitoring a couple of goals whilst on the equal time guiding interceptors missiles to the goal.
In maximum AD structures, the capability is split among radars – one for monitoring and the opposite for missile guidance. The patriot interceptor missile itself functions lively homing, with editions offering lively and passive homing.
The most variety of the machine is 70 km. The PAC-2 variation is capable of intercept goals as much as an altitude of 20 km (66,000 toes) and the PAC-three as much as forty km (130,000 toes).
Unlike Russian missile structures which includes the S-300, S-350, S-four hundred, and S-500, which use a couple of sorts of missiles, with every kind honed to have interaction a exceptional sort of goal, the Patriot structures use a unmarried sort of interceptor missile for drones, aircraft, and ballistic missiles.
What which means is that if the Patriot interceptor fired at a drone at two hundred toes altitude have been to head astray, it is able to properly hit a US / NATO aerial asset flying at 60,000 toes., imparting intelligence or aircover to Ukrainian forces.
In contrast, the missile fired via way of means of S-four hundred to have interaction a drone could now no longer have the functionality to have interaction a high-flying goal.
As consistent with open supply intelligence, the very last engagement authority for Patriot devices rests with the Regional or Sector Air Defense Commander (RADC/SADC), who’s positioned both on a U.S. Navy guided missile cruiser or on a USAF AWACS aircraft.
It’s probably that the Pentagon’s guarded reaction to the Ukrainian request for Patriot structures and Medvedev’s statements have some thing to do with the vital to preserve a US Commander withinside the loop.
What Medvedev implied in his assertion become that the US commander sitting withinside the AWAC overseeing Ukrainian Patriot engagements could be truthful recreation for the Russian fighter-released RVV-BD air-to-air (A2A) missile or S-four hundred machine-released 40N6E missile.
And that might begin World War three!
Anti-Ballistic Missile Capability
The Patriot’s capacity to have interaction ballistic missiles is also not likely to be taken gently via way of means of Russian army leaders. Deployed in massive numbers in Ukraine, Patriot structures should very efficiently counter any ballistic missiles that Russia can also additionally procure from Iran withinside the destiny to assault Ukrainian infrastructure.
Iranian-foundation missiles which includes the 300-km variety Fateh-a hundred and ten and the seven-hundred km variety Zolfaghar comply with a easy ballistic trajectory and could be an clean recreation for the Patriot interceptor, not like Russian ballistic missiles just like the Iskander which maneuver to keep away from interception.
Russia is not likely to preserve ceding its alternatives to keep away from an immediate conflict with NATO, whilst NATO maintains pushing it ever tougher right into a corner.
