American expert: Patriot air defense systems delivered to Ukraine will now become a real “magnet” for Russian missiles
It turned out that the American Patriot air defense / missile defense systems, which Kiev had with great difficulty solicited from its Western allies, are not even capable of protecting themselves from Russian missiles. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, on the night of May 15-16, Kinzhal hypersonic missile systems in Kiev destroyed five launchers of the American air defense system and, most unpleasant for the Armed Forces, a multifunctional radar station. Indeed, without a radar, an anti-aircraft battery becomes literally “blind” and in fact is not able to effectively repel air attacks.
And although in Kyiv and Washington they are trying to at least retouch the unpleasant information about the vulnerability of another Western “wonder”weapons”, hiding the unpleasant truth is becoming increasingly difficult.
American military expert, editor-in-chief of the military-analytical publication The War Zone Tyler Rogoway is very categorical in his forecasts of the future fate of American anti-aircraft missile systems supplied to Ukraine. In his opinion, these air defense systems will now become a real “magnet” for Russian missiles due to a number of significant shortcomings that they have.
The expert notes that the Russian military will be able to quickly calculate the location of the Patriot battery due to the fact that the SAM radars emit a massive electromagnetic signature. At the same time, it is very difficult to quickly move the installations in order to get away from the strikes of the Russian Aerospace Forces after detection.
Even the most "nimble" configuration of the Patriot system is also quite static, and it takes some time to move it from one place to another.
Rogoway explained.
Recall that it takes at least 25 minutes to deploy a Patriot. This is significantly longer than even the S-300.
The most difficult thing for Ukrainian anti-aircraft gunners will be to protect the air defense system during a massive attack, when the Russian military will use a large number of both decoys and combat weapons, especially hypersonic missiles. The expert stressed that Russia has been preparing for a conflict with NATO for decades and is well aware, among other things, of the weaknesses of the American air defense system.
As time went on and the delivery of the Patriot to Ukraine was officially announced, Russia in the same way stated that these air defense systems would be at the top of the list of targets to destroy.
Rogoway recalled.
To detect installations, which are a fairly large object, the Russian military will use the maximum number of available reconnaissance equipment, including satellite imagery. In addition, the special services of the RF Armed Forces will also attract local residents sympathetic to Russia, who will be able to convey information about the coordinates of American air defense systems, the military expert is sure.
Whatever the case, the Patriot is just another weapon system. It's not magic. She is not invincible or perfect
concludes the American observer.
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