CNN
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The announcement by US President Donald Trump that Ukraine will receive the Patriot missile system as part of a new package of US weapons is warmly welcomed in Kiev as it is caught up in Russian artillery fire every night.
In recent weeks, President Voldymir Zelensky repeatedly demanded patriots as Moscow sends record numbers of drones and missiles to create chaos and horror to Ukrainian cities and towns.
But Trump’s announcement has most details, leaving behind big questions about when Ukraine will arrive and who will provide them.
This is the US missile defense system that showed off what we know.
Patriots, short for phased array tracking radar for target interception, are the US Army’s main missile defense system.
They recently proved their worth when they fired down 13 of the 14-pack Iranian missiles released at the U.S. Air Force Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar last month.
The latest version of the Patriot Interceptor can involve incoming short-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones at altitudes of up to 15 kilometers (9.3 miles).
According to analysts, it offers the ability to cover an area of 100-200km for a single Patriot battery, depending on the battery, local terrain and other conditions. This is not a large area of the country, the size of Ukraine, with a total area of over 603,000 kilometers.
Therefore, the need for multiple new Patriot batteries on Kyiv.
The batteries consist of six to eight missile launchers, each capable of carrying up to 16 interceptors, with stepped array radars, control stations and power plants all mounted on trucks and trailers.
According to a US military report, around 90 people are assigned to the patriot’s batteries, but only three soldiers from the headquarters and control center can operate in combat situations.
According to the Center for Strategic Research (CSI), Patriot batteries are expensive and cost over $1 billion for a complete set up of launchers, radars and interceptor missiles.
According to the CSIS report, a single interceptor costs up to $4 million, and if Russia sends hundreds of drones in the night in a recent attack on Ukraine, it will be used against cheap Russian drones that could be a problem with just $50,000, according to a CSIS report.
Regarding the latest transfer, US officials said that if a patriot moves from a European NATO alliance to Ukraine, they can reach Ukraine.
Trump said some or all of the 17 patriot batteries ordered by other countries could arrive in Ukraine “very quickly,” according to a Reuters report.
According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance 2025, six NATO allies – Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Spain, have patriot batteries in their arsenals.
NATO Executive Director Mark Latte said on Monday that several countries, including Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, could become potential suppliers of new equipment, but that patriots did not specifically mention that they came from those countries.
There were concerns that the inventory of American patriots could be too thin, both inside and outside the military.
“It’s our most stressful force component,” General James Mingus, the Army Chief of Staff, spoke at CSIS earlier this month.
He said Qatar’s Patriot forces had been deploying Aludade Air Force Base in the Middle East for 500 days for 500 days, Mingus said.
Ukraine says it needs 10 new Patriot batteries to protect itself from the onslaught of Russian missiles and drones.
Kyiv has already received six fully operational patriot batteries. Two were given by the United States, two from Germany, one from Romania, and the other was given by Germany and the Netherlands.
Analysts say that patriots alone cannot end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Wesley Clark, a retired US Army general and former NATO commander-in-chief, told CNN’s Linda Kinkade on Monday that weapons packages need to include more than air defense systems for a real impact on the battlefield.
“If you really want to stop this, you have to attack Russia, you have to hit deep,” Clark said. “We have to shoot the shooter, not the arrows that come in.”
CNN’s Kevin Liptak contributed to this report
