About 100 Ukrainian troops are expected to arrive in the United States next week to begin training on how to use the Patriot surface-to-air guided missile defense system.
“I can confirm that Ukrainian military training on the Patriot air defense system will begin as early as next week at Fort Sill, Oklahoma,” said the Pentagon spokesman and U.S. Air Force brigadier general. General Pat Ryder said at a Pentagon press conference on Tuesday.
“This training will prepare approximately 90 to 100 Ukrainian soldiers to operate, maintain and maintain the defense system in a training course expected to last several months.”
For months, the Ukrainian government has been demanding that the United States provide the Patriot air defense system, which can target aircraft, cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles.
Ukraine’s demands for the Patriot air defense system Russian military targets Ukraine’s power grid by missile attack. During a recent visit to Washington, D.C., Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, “Russia is using winter as a weapon. It freezes people, starves them, cuts them off from each other.”
Last month, the United States Started supplying Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine first time.
Once deployed, the Patriot Missile System “will contribute to Ukraine’s air defense capabilities and provide the Ukrainian people with another capability to defend against Russia’s ongoing aerial attacks,” Ryder said. Stated.
Enough Troops to Place a Patriot Battery
At a Pentagon press conference, Ryder said that the U.S. Army base already operates a school that trains U.S. and allied forces to use the Patriot system, so the U.S. side will use Fort Sill as a place to train Ukrainian air defenses. explained that he had chosen
Ryder also explained that the US is training enough Ukrainian troops to equal one battery of the Patriot air defense system that the US has agreed to provide to Ukraine. It consists of a truck-mounted launch system with eight launchers, each capable of holding up to four missile interceptors, a ground radar, a control station, and a generator.
“Patriot batteries, by definition, require about 90 people to operate and maintain that system,” Ryder said. “Thus, this figure is in line with what is expected regarding the operation of Patriot batteries delivered to Ukraine.”
Patriot training typically takes months, but Ryder said U.S. trainers want to speed up the process for Ukrainian trainees.
“The longer these units have been away from the front line, the less they are actually engaged in combat, the more we are trying to work with the Ukrainians to see what we can do to speed up the training timeline. I have,” said Ryder.
Russian President Vladimir Putin vObliged to target and destroy the Patriot air defense system The US plans to send it to Ukraine.
“Of course we will eliminate them 100%!” Putin said in an interview with Pavel Zarubin, anchor of Russian state news agency Russia No. 1 TV. TASS reported.
Putin said the Patriot missile defense system was “pretty outdated” and that Russia would find an “antidote” for the air defense system.
“We are told that the Patriot system may be sent to Ukraine.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Ryan Morgan is a contributing news writer for NTD News.