Ukraine’s damaged Patriot missile battery repaired following Russian attacks
Mike Brest
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The Department of Defense said it helped repair a United States-provided Patriot missile system in Ukraine, confirming publicly for the first time that the highly touted and expensive equipment was damaged by Russian aerial attacks earlier this week.
“It has now been fixed and is fully back and operational,” deputy Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters on Thursday.
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The U.S. military provided “some” assistance virtually, she said, describing the damage as “minor.”
Russian officials had claimed since Tuesday that they had destroyed parts of the billion-dollar Patriot systems, but Ukrainian officials rejected that assertion, saying the damage was minimal.
The weapon, which is made by Raytheon, is one of the U.S.’s most advanced surface-to-air missile defense systems and is designed to track and intercept incoming ballistic and cruise missiles and aircraft in the air.
The U.S. trained Ukrainian soldiers on the system, which can require as many as 90 service members to operate and maintain, earlier this year at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
It has seemingly become key to Ukraine’s air defense, as the country has reported shooting down a much higher number of Russian missiles in recent days.
Ukraine’s military reported intercepting 29 of 30 missiles on Wednesday night and taking down four Russian drones, while officials said they had shot down all 18 rockets fired on Tuesday night.
Russia used the Kinzhal hypersonic missile, one of its most sophisticated conventional weapons, in many recent attacks, at times targeting the Patriot system.
Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder confirmed last week that Ukraine utilized the Patriot system to intercept the Russian Kinzhal for the first time.
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“I can confirm that they did down a Russian missile by employing the Patriot missile defense system,” Ryder said last Tuesday. “As you know, that system is part of a broader range of air defense capabilities that the United States and the international community have provided to Ukraine.”
Patriot systems cost the U.S. roughly $1.1 billion, with $400 million for the system and $690 million for the missiles.