Germany struggles to secure Patriot missile systems for Ukraine

The German authorities have declared their assistance in acquiring crucial weapons for Ukraine. The new Patriot missile systems, which were supposed to make it much harder for the Russians to advance the front line, will not reach Kyiv because many countries do not want to jeopardize their safety by giving away valuable equipment.

Let's remember that Berlin announced during the NATO summit in April that it would search for Patriots for Ukraine all over the world. After a few weeks, specifics are emerging—one of the successes is Spain's agreement to hand over Patriot missiles to the Ukrainians. However, Romania's decision not to endanger its own air defence without compensation from Western allies can be seen as a failure.

According to the Politico portal, the German initiative to find Patriots for Ukraine is falling apart. Berlin cannot find countries willing to hand over this weapon, and few countries have supported it.

“There is no European leadership and no unity between the main actors,” said Nico Lange, former German Ministry of Defence chief of staff. He added that relief increased when Americans fulfilled the Ukrainians' demands.

The Ukrainian agency Unian adds that Spain and Greece refused to deploy Patriots in Ukraine, while Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Canada, and the Netherlands committed to financing Kyiv's support. Moreover, the French, Spanish, Romanians, Lithuanians, Belgians, Americans, and British promised to send missiles for combat.

Politico points out that the expense is one of the main reasons for the reluctance to hand over Patriots to Ukraine. One complex costs about £823 million, while each launched missile costs an additional million pounds. In addition, countries that already support Ukraine do not want to endanger their air defences by parting with valuable systems.

The Patriot system's history dates back to the 1960s when the USA developed a new weapon to replace the outdated MIM-23 Hawk system. The first results of American engineers' work appeared in 1984 when the first Patriot was created. The USA then presented a weapon whose task today is firing and protecting the sky at long range.

The American surface-to-air missile system can eliminate practically any airborne threat – aircraft, helicopters, drones, and ballistic, cruise, and anti-radar missiles. Patriot system missiles reach an altitude of 25,000 metres and a range of 160 kilometres. The weapon uses missiles accelerating to Mach 5 (over 6,000 km/h), with a warhead weighing about 90 kilograms, depending on the version.

Effective detection and guidance of missiles to targets in the Patriot system are handled by the AN/MPQ-53 radar, which operates waves of 3.5-7.5 centimetres in length and frequencies up to 8 GHz. Thanks to this, the complex detects objects moving even 100 kilometres from the radar and can track 125 objects simultaneously while guiding missiles to nine of them.