Russia claims it has obliterated a roughly $1.1 billion, US-made Patriot missile defense system Monday night amid a scorching rocket assault on Kyiv.
But according to two US officials, who spoke to the news agency Reuters, the Patriot system has likely only suffered some damage from the air attack.
One US official, who spoke to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity, said Washington and Kyiv were already talking strategy and logistics on how best to repair damage to the Patriot. While noting that information on the ground is still sketchy, this official said that it did not appear that the missile system would need to be moved out of Ukraine for the fix.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters he could not confirm any reports on the status of the Patriot system in Ukraine.
The Patriot system, delivered just last month to Ukraine by the US and its NATO allies, was in active use defending the city.
Monday night’s fiery barrage over Kyiv has led to conflicting accounts of the damage, with grainy nighttime video apparently capturing the moment a Russian-launched Kinzhal hypersonic missile wiped out the Patriot system.
As the video spread on social media, Russia’s defense ministry declared that it had successfully eliminated the Patriot, according to the Zvezda military news outlet.
Here’s what you need to know about the Patriot, its cost, and how it got there:
At the heart of the Patriot system is Raytheon-made AN/MPQ-53 phased-array radar targeting, which helps it search and destroy even hypersonic ballistic missiles racing in midair
The system relies on multiple components besides the launcher, according to a graphic by Raytheon Company
Grainy security video circulating on the Telegram messaging app appears to show the moment a surface-to-air battery explodes after exhausting all of its ammunition amid the attacks
Kyiv officials said the attack – the eighth on the capital this month – involved drones, cruise missiles and probably ballistic missiles launched ‘from different directions simultaneously’
Explosion of a Russian-launched missile in the sky over Kyiv this morning
All told, Russian forces launched six Kinzhals over the night, nuclear-ready ballistic missiles capable of coasting at up to 10 times the speed of sound.
The volley was among the most fierce missile strikes on the Ukrainian capital since the war broke out: 18 Russian-fired missiles in total, along with 6 Shahed kamikaze drones, according to some reports.
But the commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, says that Ukrainian forces managed to intercept all six Kinzhals using the Patriot system, detonating the Russian rockets in midair.
What is the Patriot missile system?
The MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air (SAM) missile defense system gets its name from the sophisticated, Raytheon-made AN/MPQ-53 phased-array radar system at the heart of its targeting system. (The Patriot acronym stands for ‘Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target.’)
The Patriot is a mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) unit, manufactured by the U.S. defense contractor Raytheon, that consists of this robust radar array, one control station, a power generator, missile launch stations, and a small fleet of support vehicles.
Depending on the missile interception needs, the system has a variety of differing configurations.
One, the PAC-2 interceptor, launches a blast-fragmentation warhead, that radiates its damage in a ring. The newer PAC-3 missile uses more advanced hit-to-kill technology that is precise enough to detonate on impact, instead of via a proximity sensor within the warhead.
Patriot systems consists of a robust phased array radar, control station, power generator, missile launch stations, and a small fleet of support vehicles. Above, a Patriot surface-to-air missile system is presented at the Warsaw-Radom Airport in Radom on April 20, 2023
The Patriot comes in differing configurations. The PAC-2 interceptor launches a blast-fragmentation warhead spreading damage. Newer PAC-3 missiles employ more advanced hit-to-kill technology, precise enough to detonate without a proximity sensor inside the warhead
US European Command first promised Patriots to the Zelenskyy government in March 2022, but the missile system did not arrive on Ukrainian soil until April 2023, most reports say
How did the Patriot get to Ukraine?
US European Command announced its intentions to supply the Zelenskyy government back on March 9, 2022 in the early days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But the delivery did not become official until December 20, 2022, when the Biden administration vowed to include a Patriot system as part of a new $1.85 billion aid package to assist Ukraine in its wartime defense.
The Patriot system did not arrive in Ukraine until this April, when America’s NATO partners in the German government announced that they had delivered a Patriot system to Ukraine.
A second Patriot battery has allegedly been delivered, direct from the US, as of April 27, but neither the Pentagon nor the Biden administration confirmed that the system arrived at its destination.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, while thanking allied in US, Germany and the Netherlands in late April, also did not specify publicly how many Patriot missile systems had been delivered.
What’s the price tag?
A single, newly made Patriot defense system costs somewhere near $1.1 billion, two-thirds of the cost (approximately $690 million) for the missile battery itself with the rest of the price needed for the system, support vehicles and radar ($400 million).
- This article has been amended since initial publication to remove an erroneous image which was captioned as showing missile attacks on Kyiv. The photograph actually portrayed Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepting rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel.
