Learning to work with this system will last several months.
Jordan Cohen, an analyst at the Cato Research Institute, believes that Ukrainian servicemen will be able to start using Patriot air defense systems provided by the US no earlier than the end of spring 2023.
In an interview with Newsweek magazine, he said that learning to work with this system will last several months.
“I believe that the delivery and training of this system will take many months, and due to limited supplies and costs, I am not sure that they (Patriot systems, – ed.) will be used, at least successfully, until the end of the spring of 2023.” , the expert explained.
According to Cohen, for obvious reasons, Ukraine’s use of ammunition is ahead of supply for at least some systems. However, with the Patriot, it will be more difficult in this matter.
“With Patriot, given the absence of missiles in free access, they cannot be wasted,” he noted.
Cohen noted that the US does not have “tons of PAC 2 and PAC 3 (missiles – ed.) just lying around” to send to Ukraine, adding that “once the battery and missiles are sent, the US will not return them.”
Provision of Patriot Ukraine systems
On Wednesday, December 21, 2022, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken officially announced a new $1.85 billion military aid package for Ukraine. It will include Patriot air defense systems.
The transfer of these systems to Ukraine caused the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, to increase the number of statements aimed at the West’s refusal to help Ukraine. Analysts of the Institute for the Study of War emphasized that the head of the Kremlin began to hysterically accuse Washington of “protracting the war.”
On December 23, it became known that the Armed Forces of Ukraine approved the list of military personnel who will learn to work with the Patriot air defense system. The training will take place in one of the NATO countries.
