In Germany, at one of the bases of the Luftwaffe Air Force, a second group of Ukrainian soldiers was trained to work with the Patriot anti-aircraft missile complex. About 70 soldiers and officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine completed the course. It lasted more than six weeks.
As Deutsche Welle reports, the commander of the multinational training command, Lieutenant General Andreas Marlow, said that experienced Ukrainian military personnel took part in the exercises — they have years of service in air defense units and experience working with the Soviet S-300 air defense systems.
The course began on October 30, after the announcement by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the German Ambassador that Ukraine will receive another Patriot air defense system in the winter military aid package. The package will also include Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft installations for the protection of critical infrastructure and two IRIS-T air defense systems (one has already been handed over ) in addition to the three that the Armed Forces already have. We are talking about systems with radars and command posts.
- Ukraine received the first Patriot complex from Germany in April 2023. The handover of the air defense system took place immediately after the completion of the training of Ukrainian operators, who began mastering this system at the beginning of February.
- In the summer of this year, Germany handed over two additional Patriot launchers and missiles to Ukraine.