Patriots for Ukraine: Global availability and potential challenges ahead

Photo: Patriot air defense system (wikimedia.org)

Germany has volunteered to find Patriot batteries for Ukraine all over the world. Defense Express finds out where and how many of these air defense systems are and why there may be problems.

“The task of getting additional Patriots will not be easy, but this does not mean that it cannot be solved,” the journalists state.

Indeed, the number of Patriots is quite difficult to calculate. For example, Military Balance counts these SAMs in launchers, but in the sections of organizational structures, it indicates the number of batteries. Also, the number of SAMs that are not in a combat-ready state is not taken into account but still rests on the ability of the United States to restore them. In addition, Patriot is a flexible structure, so there are systematic cases when it is changed depending on the needs and capabilities of the customer.

USA

There are 60 Patriot batteries in service in the United States, but this number can hardly be called redundant.

“A Patriot battery includes only one fire unit (up to 8 launchers, one radar, one command post, communication and support vehicles – ed.), which is the closest thing to an anti-aircraft missile system. That is, given the territory of the country and the number of foreign bases, 60 such SAMs are not redundant for the US military,” the article says.

NATO

The agency also calculated the number of these air defense systems in the countries that are part of the European segment of the Alliance.

・Germany has about 10 Patriot PAC-3 batteries;

・The Netherlands has less than 3 Patriot PAC-3 batteries;

・Sweden is in the process of receiving up to 4, and currently has up to 2 Patriot PAC-3 batteries;

・Romania has up to 7, currently up to 4 Patriot PAC-3 batteries are in the process of being received;

・Poland has 2 Patriot batteries, plans for up to 12 PAC-3 batteries;

・Greece has 6 Patriot PAC-2 batteries;

・Spain has 3 Patriot PAC-2 batteries.

Asia

There are also Patriot air defense systems in Asian countries. But, as journalists note, “it is unlikely that a donor of these SAMs will be found among these countries because all three countries are not in a position to disarm now.”

・Japan has 24 Patriot PAC-3 batteries;

・South Korea has 8 Patriot PAC-3 batteries;

・Taiwan has 7 Patriot PAC-3 batteries.

“Moreover, they do not supply weapons to Ukraine directly, and Japan is just beginning to lift its restrictions on arms exports,” the article says.

Middle East

Here, the statistics on these air defense systems, given the much lower openness of the countries, are as follows:

・Kuwait has 7-8 batteries (possibly 6 more in PAC-2);

・Qatar has 4-6 Patriot PAC-3 batteries;

・Saudi Arabia has 18-25 batteries (PAC-2 and PAC-3 together);

・UAE has 6-9 Patriot PAC-3 batteries, 2 more PAC-2 batteries;

・Israel has 4 Patriot PAC-2 batteries.

Patriot for Ukraine

Germany, as the chairman of the air defense coalition operating within the framework of Ramstein, is initiating an immediate search for all available Patriot batteries and other air defense systems not only among allies but in the world, in general, to transfer them to Ukraine.

In late February, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that the transfer of ten Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems to Ukraine would dramatically affect the situation in the war with Russia. In addition, in response to the shelling of Kharkiv on March 27, Zelenskyy asked why Patriot air defense systems, which are plentiful in the world, still do not cover the sky of the regional center.