Ukraine's defence strain as NATO arms pledges fall short

During the July NATO summit, several countries urgently pledged additional aid to Ukraine. The information provided at that time indicated that this included five more air defence systems, including Patriot and SAMP-T. However, not all countries have fulfilled their declarations, and most of the deliveries that Ukrainians were counting on will most likely reach the front before autumn.

This turn of events will pose a significant problem, as experts and analysts are certain that attacks targeting key elements of Ukrainian infrastructure by Russians will intensify once temperatures start to drop this year.

As Bloomberg recalls, during the last NATO summit, the United States, Germany, and Romania committed to delivering additional Patriot batteries. A fourth such complex was to be assembled from components provided by several unnamed countries.

Patriot is a surface-to-air missile system produced by Raytheon, one of the world's most highly regarded weapons of its kind. Its components are mounted on a truck platform, providing high mobility for the crews. A complete Patriot system includes launchers, command stations, and a phased array radar.

The Patriot system's capabilities in countering hostile objects should be considered with respect to factors such as radar version, target type, and the missiles used. However, it is a weapon capable of eliminating targets up to about 160 kilometres away and at altitudes up to around 25 kilometres. MIM-104A missiles reach approximately Mach 3 after launch, but for PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles, the maximum speed can go up to Mach 5.

The effectiveness of the Patriot has been repeatedly confirmed during the war in Ukraine. The American system has demonstrated high efficiency in defending areas such as Kyiv and has also inflicted significant losses on Russian aviation.