Ukraine left waiting as allies delay promised air defenses

Bloomberg, citing well-informed sources, reports that some of Ukraine's allies are not fulfilling their promises during the last NATO summit. As a result, the Ukrainian army is not receiving crucial weapons, including additional air defense systems.

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 defense 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 fall.

This situation poses 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, which is one of the most highly regarded weapons of its kind in the world. 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 capabilities of the Patriot system 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 100 miles away and at altitudes up to around 15 miles. MIM-104A missiles reach approximately Mach 3 after launch, but for PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles, the maximum speed can go up to even 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 it has also inflicted significant losses on Russian aviation.