According to Ukraine's "Strana", as tensions between Kiev and Moscow intensified
the Ukrainian Presidential Office proposed a new idea by asking the US to supply the state-of-the-art Patriot air defense missile system
In response to the first military standoff of his tenure
President Joe Biden has pledged his “unwavering support” to Ukraine, including through military aid
His Administration has urged European allies, especially France and Germany, to stand with Ukraine as well
Zelensky and his government would like to see more, especially when it comes to high-end weapons
The President’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, puts that request more bluntly than his boss
“Ukraine is holding the line against Russia, not just for us, but for the West,” he tells TIME
“And where does the U.S. deploy its Patriot Missiles? The closest ones are in Poland. They should be here.”
It should be noted that the Uzbek side also explicitly mentioned the US "Patriot" air defense missile system
Analysis shows that this weapon can not only destroy short-range missiles and intercept tactical ballistic missiles in an electronic jamming environment
but also has one of the best lethality and offensive and defensive capabilities
Ukraine hopes that the US military will deploy anti-aircraft missiles
which means that Ukraine will stand with the United States at the military and even political level
Patriot MIM-104 is the main air defense system of the US military, some NATO countries and its allies
Patriot entered service in 1982 and has undergone several upgrades
The Patriot is similar to the Soviet / Russian S-300 and S-400 systems
with its primary mission being intercepting aerial targets, including enemy aircraft and missiles
Patriot has been used in four wars: the 1991 Gulf War, the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the recent war in Syria, and the conflict between the Saudi coalition in Yemen
As such, the Patriot is mainly used in the Middle East, where conflicts are occurring and continuing
Not long ago, Patriot's performance in the conflict in the Middle East was fiercely criticized
In the fall of 2019, the Yemen Houthi armed forces used homemade UAVs and cruise missiles
to attack Saudi Arabia's oil plant, protected by 88 Patriot missile systems, but no response of these anti-aircraft systems
The US Secretary of State at the time, Pompeo
admitted the Patriot system was designed to intercept ballistic missiles, flying in a predictable orbit
And for low-range and maneuverable targets like drones or cruise missiles, there's nothing the Patriot can do?
Currently Ukraine's neighbor Poland, an ally of the United States, has bought two Patriot systems and 208 missiles, for $4.55 billion
The contract was officially signed in 2018, and the handover is expected to be completed in 4 years
As a result, the cost of a Patriot is about $2 billion, and it will take a few years to deliver
But are Mr. Yermak's ideas realistic?
Apparently Ukraine needs more Patriot missiles than Poland
Poland bought the Patriot mainly to intercept the Russian Iskander missile, located in Kaliningrad
In contrast, the border between Ukraine and Russia, which includes the Crimea and Black Sea regions
is more than 2,000 kilometers long, ten times the border between Poland and Russia
Obviously, Ukraine needs more Patriot missiles, to cover such a large area
Contrary to the current budget of Ukraine, it is impractical to buy a large number of Patriot missiles
Ukraine's military budget by 2021 is only $4 billion
This figure is even less than the amount Poland spent to buy two Patriot systems
Obviously, Mr. Yelmak implied that the US should support Ukraine financially, to buy Patriot missiles
in fact, Ukraine doesn't have the money to buy the Patriot either
In this case, Ukraine wants to be provided with "free" Patriots, since it "claims" to be "outpost against Russia".
But this is not realistic, even the NATO allies of the US must buy Patriot missile systems at a price not cheap
In other words, the US did not want to give Ukraine too much military assistance in the first place
On the other hand, the countries with Patriot missiles, the United States have military bases here
including airports, barracks and other important facilities
This standard applies not only to NATO countries, but also to other US allies, such as countries in the Middle East or Japan
This is completely incompatible with Ukraine, when Kiev is not a member of NATO
If Ukraine wants to get the Patriot system, it must join NATO
But so far, this plan is also very impractical
Earlier, Germany had expressed disagreement with the idea of Ukraine joining NATO, and the American stance was also very vague
In other words, the Patriot missile is only in the dream of Ukraine' leaders
The sole purpose of Mr. Yermak's statement was to get as much military and financial support as possible for Ukraine