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Russia Amplifies Long-Range Strikes On Ukraine To Avoid Losses. But US’ Most Advanced PAC-3 Missile Could Change The Trend

On December 16, the Russian troops launched dozens of missiles at Ukraine’s capital in one of the war’s worst attacks that caused massive power disruptions across the country. According to the British Intelligence update, there has recently been an uptick in long-range strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure.

The update stated that the waves of strikes launched on Ukraine have consisted mainly of air and maritime-launched cruise missiles but have almost certainly included the Iranian Shahed-136 kamikaze drones.

With Russia likely to acquire Iranian ballistic missiles, it could unleash mayhem over Ukraine since the embattled country does not have enough air defense systems to intercept and shoot down ballistic missiles.

EurAsian Times had reported earlier this week that the United States was in the advanced stages of finalizing the delivery of Patriot missile defense systems to Ukraine. The latest reports indicate that Washington is considering arming Kyiv with the most advanced system, the PAC-3 Patriot.

The Patriot PAC-3 is one of the options that the US government is now considering sending to Ukraine so that Kyiv can intercept ballistic missiles that hit its territory, Politico reported.

Another alternative for US defense officials is hiring Raytheon Technologies, a major player in the country’s defense sector, to develop new equipment. However, this may take years.




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Patriot PAC-3 Missile Defense System (via Twitter)

Rattled by the reports, the Russian embassy in the United States issued a statement saying that the potential sale of Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine would be another aggressive move by the Biden administration and might have “unpredictable consequences.” However, a decision hasn’t been taken by the US yet.

The Patriot’s capability to shoot down ballistic missiles is unlikely to be disregarded by Russian military authorities. If Patriot systems were widely deployed in Ukraine, they could effectively block any ballistic missiles that Russia could employ to attack Ukrainian infrastructure.

Contrary to Russian ballistic missiles like the Iskander, which maneuver to avoid interception, Iranian-origin missiles like the Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar, which have ranges of 300 and 700 kilometers, respectively, follow a straightforward ballistic trajectory and would easily be shot down by the Patriot interceptor.

On top of that, the most advanced variant of the Patriot missile defense system would be considered an aggressive move due to its combat capability that could tilt the balance in Kyiv’s favor.

Currently, the PAC-3 has been exported only to a handful of countries, including Germany, Japan, Kuwait, Taiwan, and the Netherlands.

CNN US Military analyst Major General James “Spider” Marks (Retd) told CNN, “The employment of the Patriot, which is upgraded air defense ability, will address and mitigate the primary threat that Ukraine faces, i.e., the use of guided missiles and guided drones by Russia to hit sensitive targets inside Ukraine. The Patriot missile defense increases accuracy and kill rate and protects the ground to specific targets.”

The analyst explained, “Even the S-400 can do that, but the flexibility of the Patriot with the Phased Array radar gives great precision without having to reposition the radar. So now, the Russians would lose that advantage they have enjoyed over Ukraine, i.e., launching these attacks from their sanctuaries.

To overcome this, the Russians will have to position themselves closer to the Ukrainians; they get slaughtered every time they are close to them.”

PAC-3 Patriot Missile Defense System

The Phased Array Tracking to Intercept of Target (PATRIOT) Advanced Capability-Three (PAC-3) program is a missile-defense, guided missile system with long-range, medium- to high-altitude, all-weather capabilities. It’s built to defend against tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and cutting-edge aircraft.

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