On 21 December, the White House announced a new package of nearly $2 billion worth of military aid for Ukraine, which contains a Patriot missile battery that Ukraine desperately needs to protect its airspace from Russian missile attacks.The Patriot missile battery, a surface-to-air guided missile system, is manufactured by the US defense contractor Raytheon Technologies Corporation. Each Patriot battery consists of a truck-mounted launching system with eight launchers, a ground radar, a control station, and a generator. Each Patriot launcher can hold four missiles.

Even one Patriot battery will boost Ukraine’s air defense and help Ukraine’s Armed Forces to protect critical civilian infrastructure targeted by Russian missiles. Apart from aircraft and cruise missiles, Patriots can shoot down ballistic missiles, which is a capability that Ukraine’s air defense currently lacks.

The US Armed Forces have been using Patriots to protect American airspace since 1981. This highly effective air defense system derives its name from the key radar component known as “Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target,” which is the backronym for PATRIOT.

A Patriot battery requires as many as 90 troops to operate and maintain it. For many months the US government declined Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s requests to provide this complex and costly system ($1 billion per Patriot system) to Ukraine.

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