U.S. to Approve Delivery of Two Patriot Batteries to Ukraine in Coming Weeks
Germany is expected to deliver its first Patriot battery to Ukraine within a few months after finalizing an agreement to purchase the air defense systems from the United States.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius made this announcement following discussions with the U.S. Secretary of Defense.
Berlin and Washington are set to finalize the acquisition of two American Patriot air defense systems and arrange their delivery to Ukraine within the coming days or weeks.
Speaking in Washington, Pistorius stated that negotiations will continue at the working level to finalize details, including the number of launchers and missiles to be included in the agreement.
According to him, once the agreement is signed, the first air defense system could be delivered within a few months. He declined to comment on whether the talks also covered offensive weaponry.
If the intergovernmental agreement is successful, the purchased systems will become the fourth and fifth Patriot batteries Germany has delivered to Ukraine. This would make Berlin the leading supplier of these systems to Ukraine, even surpassing the United States, the manufacturer and primary user of the Patriots.
Previously, German officials stated that further deliveries of these air defense systems directly from their own military stocks would not be possible, as the number of available systems has been reduced to nine. This is significantly fewer than the 36 Patriot batteries Germany possessed at the height of the Cold War.
Agreements with the United States on the sale and priority delivery of weapons in exchange for support to Ukraine have resolved this issue. However, it remains unclear whether the German systems will be sent promptly in exchange for guarantees of swift compensation or if the systems will come from the U.S. military’s own stockpiles.
The question of the supplier country is important because Germany possesses older PAC-2 generation systems that cannot use the advanced MIM-104F missiles, which are effective at intercepting ballistic targets. In contrast, all American systems have been upgraded to the third-generation PAC-3 standard.
Beyond the air defense systems, the Ukrainian military faces a critical shortage of ammunition, specifically, interceptor missiles. In particular, there is a deficit of PAC-3 MSE missiles, which are capable of effectively intercepting ballistic and hypersonic missiles.
It was recently announced that Germany will receive its first Patriot interceptor missiles, manufactured domestically, by late 2026 or early 2027.
When asked whether Germany will have the freedom to make decisions regarding the use of these missiles, especially in the context of transferring them to Ukraine, given that they are based on American technology, Major General Christian Freuding responded that no issues are expected in this regard.
