On Saturday, April 13, 2024, German Federal Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius announced on social media that the Berlin government will urgently provide an additional MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile system to Ukraine.
Photo: Luftwaffe
The Russian terror against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure of the country causes unspeakable suffering. It jeopardizes energy supply for the population and destroys industrial facilities important for the operational readiness of the Ukrainian armed forces. Therefore, we are supporting Ukraine with another Patriot system. By supporting Ukraine, we are going as far as possible in terms of our operational readiness. Before making this decision, I had already committed to the quickest possible purchase of new equipment, and we are working hard on replacements.
Boris Pistorius, German Federal Minister of Defense
On March 20 of this year, the Budget Committee (Haushaltsausschuss) of the German Bundestag approved funding for the purchase of four additional MIM-104 Patriot batteries for up to 1.28 billion euros (1.36 billion USD) and the modernization of the existing AN/MPQ-65 fire control radar stations for up to 76 million euros (80.9 million USD). The expected delivery time for the new systems is between 2027 and 2029 (Germany is buying four Patriot batteries).
Since the late 1980s, the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) has had a total of 12 batteries of the MIM-104 Patriot PAC-3 system under the 1st Air Defense Wing Schleswig-Holstein, consisting of four groups: the 21st in Sanitz, the 24th in Bad Sülze, the 26th in Husum, and the 61st in Todendorf. Two additional batteries are used for crew training. On April 18, 2023, Germany delivered one promised battery of the system to the fighting Ukraine, as pledged earlier that year. Temporarily, one battery each has been deployed in Poland and Slovakia.
Furthermore, the United States provided one battery, and the Netherlands provided battery components (according to declarations from January and May 2023). Thus, Ukraine has received or is set to receive three complete batteries along with additional four launchers.
On June 11, 2023, the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal quoted the then-CEO of the American company Raytheon Technologies (the main integrator of the system; currently part of the RTX corporation), Greg Hayes, who revealed that by the end of 2024, Ukraine would receive five additional sets of this defense system. However, it is unclear who would finance this, as currently, further packages of American aid for Ukraine are blocked.
Deutschland wird der #Ukraine unverzüglich eine weitere Feuereinheit #PATRIOT übergeben, um russische Luftangriffe abzuwehren. Sie wird zusätzlich zu den bereits gelieferten und weiterhin geplanten #Luftverteidigungssystemen abgegeben. pic.twitter.com/1oULQYqSRd
— Verteidigungsministerium (@BMVg_Bundeswehr) April 13, 2024