What Are Patriot Air Defence Systems Trump Will Send To Ukraine To Repel Russia's Aerial Assault?
The Patriot, which stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is a theater-wide surface-to-air missile defence system
President Donald Trump has said that the United States will send Patriot air defence missiles to Ukraine, calling them 'necessary" to defend the country because Russian President Vladimir Putin 'talks nice but then he bombs everybody in the evening".
While Trump did not specify the number of Patriots he plans to send to Ukraine, he said the United States would be reimbursed for their cost by the European Union.
'We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need, because Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then bombs everybody in the evening. But there's a little bit of a problem there. I don't like it," Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews outside of Washington. 'We basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated military equipment. They are going to pay us 100 per cent for that, and that's the way we want it," he added.
The renewed push to provide air defence systems to Ukraine follows a series of devastating aerial assaults, which seem to be intensifying the frustration within the US administration as it continues to pursue a negotiated peace.
On Tuesday last week, Ukraine was hit by a record 728 drones overnight, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warning that Russia wanted to increase the number to 1,000, BBC reported.
According to the United Nations, June saw the highest monthly civilian casualties in Ukraine in three years, with 232 people killed and more than 1,300 injured.
WHAT IS THE PATRIOT SYSTEM?
The Patriot, which stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is a theater-wide surface-to-air missile defence system built by Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX.N) and considered one of the most advanced air defence systems in the US arsenal, Reuters reported.
The system was first deployed in combat during the 1991 Gulf War, where it provided protection for Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Israel. It was later used again during the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.
This mobile defence system typically consists of powerful radar, a control station, a power generator, launch stations, and various support vehicles.
Its capabilities vary based on the interceptor type. The PAC-2 interceptor relies on a blast-fragmentation warhead, while the newer PAC-3 missile incorporates advanced hit-to-kill technology. According to NATO in 2015, the system's radar has a range exceeding 150 km (93 miles).
The Patriot missile, which works like a Stinger missile, uses ground-based radar to surveil, track and engage targets. An incoming missile could be as far away as 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) and the Patriot system's radar can lock onto it.
The missile is equipped with a track-via-missile (TVM) guidance system, which means midcourse correction commands are transmitted to the guidance system from the mobile engagement control centre.
The missile has a range of 70km and a maximum altitude greater than 24km. The minimum flight time is less than nine seconds while the maximum is three and a half minutes.
The Patriot missile has been through several significant upgrades since its initial development:
• Software changes in the mid-1980s allowed the missile to engage tactical ballistic missiles, known as the PAC-1 (Patriot Advanced Capability).
• The first major missile upgrade in the late 1980s introduced the MIM-104C missile, also known as the PAC-2 missile.
• In 1993, more upgrades were made to allow remote launch capabilities of the PAC-2 missile.
• In 1997, the Army deployed the PAC-3 missile — or MIM-104F missile — with an onboard radar detection and tracking system for improved capabilities against ballistic missiles. The first PAC-3 missiles used in combat were during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
The Patriot system fires missiles from the M901 launch stations, which are equipped with up to four launch canisters, each capable of holding different types of PAC-3 missiles. These launchers are roughly the size of a tractor-trailer and receive their power from the electric power plant (EPP) vehicle.
Every Patriot missile battery has a radar set used to scan the skies for incoming targets, detect potential targets, determine the trajectory, speed and heading of incoming targets, provide information to identify incoming targets, and track Patriot missiles once they are launched.
A newly produced single Patriot battery costs over $1 billion, with $400 million for the system and $690 million for the missiles in a battery, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.
WHICH COUNTRIES USE THE SYSTEM?
Patriot is in service with the US and allied countries, including Germany, Greece, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Poland, Sweden, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Romania, Spain, and Taiwan.
HOW WILL IT HELP UKRAINE?
Ukraine has said it needs more air defence systems to protect against the barrage of missile and drones strikes from Russian forces.
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While the Patriot system is designed to intercept threats like aircraft and ballistic missiles, it can also shoot down the 'kamikaze" drones Russia has frequently sent to hit Ukrainian critical infrastructure. But it would be an extremely expensive way to destroy drones that only cost thousands of dollars.
Officials and experts have said that while the Patriot system is likely to save lives from incoming missiles, it probably won't change the trajectory of the conflict since it is a defensive system.
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Patriot Missiles russia-ukraine conflict United states Vladimir Putin Volodymyr Zelenskyy
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First Published:
July 14, 2025, 11:51 IST
News explainers What Are Patriot Air Defence Systems Trump Will Send To Ukraine To Repel Russia's Aerial Assault?
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