The US government plans to close all open orders for Patriot air defense systems and missiles to send them to Ukraine.
This was reported by the Financial Times (FT) with reference to three people familiar with the decision.
According to them, this step became known a week ago, on Thursday, after US President Joe Biden announced during the G7 summit in Italy that he supported the commitment to supply Ukraine with additional air defense systems.
These obligations related, in particular, to Patriot missile batteries, which Kyiv requested from its partners after another increase in Russian missile and drone attacks on the Ukrainian energy system.
Biden said that five countries have already agreed to send Patriot and other air defense systems to Ukraine, and "other countries that are waiting for deliveries of American systems will have to wait, because everything we have will go to Ukraine until its needs are met". The American president added that Kyiv will start receiving more systems "rather quickly". Two interlocutors of the publication noted that such an announcement by Biden guarantees that Ukraine will receive Patriot systems.
Poland, Romania and Germany are among the European countries that still have open orders for Patriot systems. Spain also has an open order for Patriot launchers, and the NATO coalition placed an order for a thousand Patriot missiles in January.
Spain, Greece and Romania are armed with the Patriot, but so far they do not allow to redirect their orders to Ukraine. Poland has said its Patriots are protecting infrastructure used to deliver Western weapons across its border into Ukraine, which is why they have already been deployed.
- Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems manufactured in the USA are the most modern and effective American means of air defense today. The Patriot uses advanced air-to-air interceptor missiles and highly effective radar systems. Currently, this is the only means of air defense capable of shooting down all missiles. Currently, Ukraine has at least four Patriot systems provided by the United States and Germany.