European countries that have Patriot missile defense systems are pointed by some of their partners - and especially by Kyiv - to send batteries with this type of projectiles to Ukraine. However, nations such as Spain, Greece, Sweden or Romania are reluctant due to national defense issues. The debate is open.
The European countries that have Patriot batteries are the Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Spain, Romania, Poland and Sweden. All together there are 30 systems, with Germany having the largest number: 12, although two of them have already been transferred to Ukraine.
The Germans have already said they will send another anti-missile array while eyeing some of their partners to do the same. Poland has already said that it needs the two it has and Romania, recently incorporated into the club of those that have this anti-missile system and bathed by the Black Sea, does not seem like the ideal candidate, even though Bucharest already has four recently acquired batteries. and wait for three more.
Switzerland, which did not have this anti-aircraft capability, has just closed a contract for its acquisition worth 1.2 billion dollars.
At the beginning of the war unleashed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Western powers said that certain air defenses would never be placed in the hands of Kyiv because they could reach objectives within Russian territory and because, in addition, personnel training was required. that it would only be achieved with international instructors on the ground and this was impossible.
But all this changed very soon and Patriot missile batteries began to arrive on Ukrainian soil and personnel began to be trained, although on Western soil. Those red lines were erased and Ukraine has at least four batteries of this anti-missile system, especially dedicated to the defense of its capital. They are the result of donations from countries such as Germany, the United States and the Netherlands.
But Zelensky asks for more; he needs, according to various sources, another six batteries to defend himself against Russian attacks with missiles and drones. “Ukraine is asking everything from everyone,” explains Army Reserve Lieutenant General Francisco Gan Pampols.
The pressure is now on the countries that have the Patriot system, especially Spain and Greece, to give up some of their batteries to Ukraine. Both countries have three batteries each. Each battery is made up – generally and depending on configuration issues – of six launchers with four projectiles each, in addition to, at least, one control module and another for electrical generation.
Spain has deployed one of its three batteries in the Turkish city of Incirlik since 2015 in response to a NATO request promoted by Ankara that needed to reinforce its air defense, since the outbreak of the war in Syria and, especially, due to the rise of the Islamic State.
The other two Spanish batteries are deployed in Valencia and Cartagena on national defense missions. Countries like Morocco or Algeria, which are obviously not members of the European Union or NATO, have missiles with sufficient range to reach Spanish territory. It goes without saying that new threats linked to radical Islam could be glimpsed from the Maghreb that could take control of some of these precision rocketry systems.
“Spain and Greece are making their own security assessments, because Russia is not their only threat,” emphasizes Lieutenant General Gan. This soldier with extensive international experience in NATO missions adds: “Ukraine is overacting, it is making what happens to it seem like someone else's fault. We [the West] are not capable of delivering everything it asks for without becoming decapitalized.”
It is estimated that a little more than two years pass from the time a battery is ordered until it is delivered by the manufacturer. The replacement, especially in these times when the military industry is saturated, “would be very slow,” comments José Canedo, a retired Army officer with extensive combat experience.
The Patriot system debuted in combat in the first Gulf War (1990-1991) and demonstrated great effectiveness in the defense of Israeli territory when Scud missiles were launched from Iraq, slower and heavier than the then new system provided by the United States. in that campaign against Saddam Hussein's regime.
Today's Patriots are not the ones from Operation Desert Storm. Gradual updates have been made and its missiles have different configurations, although their main function is the destruction of other missiles in flight, especially cruise type and atmospheric trajectory, but also some low-range ballistic missiles.
The average cost of a Patriot projectile is, as Gan explains, “six million dollars.” It should be noted that, like most of these anti-aircraft systems, the interception of the enemy projectile is carried out with two shots. The launch - it is called redundant - of two projectiles gives very high guarantees of defeating the chosen target.
At the meeting of donor countries to Ukraine that is held by video conference, it may happen that some of the countries like Spain, which do not comment on the transfer of Patriot systems, offer alternatives to the delivery of this anti-missile defense such as continuing to train Ukrainian personnel for their use, provide other types of material or more money, or also that they finally give in.
An alternative that is on the horizon for the Spanish case and that has been suggested from Ukraine on occasion is to move the battery that Spain has in Incirlik to territory under the control of Kyiv, but that would be moving other pieces on the international board and Turkey. , a NATO partner, would also have things to say.
