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The United States has approved sending one more Patriot missile battery to Ukraine as it keeps deterring Russian air attacks.
This was reported by The New York Times.
“Mr. Biden’s decision came last week, the officials said, after a series of high-level meetings and an internal debate over how to meet Ukraine’s pressing needs for bolstered air defenses without jeopardizing U.S. combat readiness,” reads the article issued on June 11.
The second Patriot missile battery the US is sending to Ukraine is currently stationed in Poland, meaning it could be deployed in Ukraine in the coming days. Previously, it was used to protect a rotational force of American troops soon to return to the US.
It is well-known that while Patriots are the most efficient air defense systems they are also high-maintenance and exist in small quantities.
“It is also one of the scarcest weapons systems in the U.S. arsenal. Pentagon officials refuse to disclose how many it has, but one senior military official said that the Army has deployed only 14 of them, in the United States and around the world,” explains the article.
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin and other Pentagon representatives have been trying to persuade European leaders to send Patriots to Ukraine. As of now, Germany and the Netherlands have responded.
Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany would send the third Patriot system as well as additional Patriot missiles to Ukraine.
On June 11, during the Ukraine Recovery Conference, President Zelenskyy, while thanking German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other allies for the contribution to Ukraine’s air defence capabilities, said Ukraine still had a dire need for about 7 Patriot systems to protect its main urban areas.
Read also: Some F-16s will be stationed abroad to avoid Russian strikes, – Ukraine’s Air Force Command
