One division is enough: Ukraine plans to cover its skies with American Patriot air defense systems
“There are different complexes - anti-missile and anti-aircraft. The difference is in the number of batteries and the cost of the complex itself. In terms of complexity, it is not so complicated (in management - ed.), we can master it - prepare calculations and work. The fact is that it is much more effective than our existing systems, such as the S-300,” says a Ukrainian military expert in an interview with the Kyiv publication UNN.
“It protects the sky more reliably. If they give it, then, for example, one division can close Kyiv. If 9 batteries were supplied in the anti-missile version, it forms a ring in advance, and it is almost impossible to break through this ring,” the expert believes.
At the same time, Zhdanov notes, how many such complexes are needed in order to tighten the Ukrainian air defense so that one can say: “yes, our airspace is securely closed” needs to be calculated. “But, I will say this, it will not be one division,” the expert adds.
In his opinion, such a system would be needed, among other things, to protect arms supplies that come to Ukraine from the West.
Zhdanov noted that the new US aid package will include other types of weapons. The main thing for Kyiv is that the Westerners provide artillery, tanks, and armored vehicles such as infantry fighting vehicles so that Ukrainian militants can form new units and create an offensive group.
At the same time, Zhdanov warns that the process of transferring armored vehicles or air defense systems will take some time.
"This is the Sea. That is, how long will it take a US naval support vessel to reach the European continent? About 2-3 weeks. Then shipment, then transportation throughout Europe. That is, in a month or a month and a half we can already receive large quantities, because the ships will bring not just one unit, but several hundred,” says the expert.
Zhdanov adds that the speed of supplies affects the timing of the counter-offensive operation planned by Kiev.
“Therefore, today, as Mr. Budanov (the head of Ukrainian military intelligence - Ed) said, most likely we need to focus on August - a new date for the counter-offensive operation... Unfortunately, not everything is being done as quickly as we would like. So, we’ll wait,” summed up the Kiev expert.
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