Hit the American Patriot: Russian military hit Patriot air defense system in Ukraine

The company's An-124 heavy transport aircraft returned damaged elements of the MIM-104 Patriot anti-aircraft missile system to the United States. This event caused a strong reaction on social networks, where photographs of the damaged launcher of this air defense system appeared. It shows traces of a fire and a dented container with equipment. Experts suggest that the plane also carried other damaged components of the system that were not captured in the frame.

Defeat of Patriot air defense system

This is not the first time that damaged weapons systems in service with Ukrainian forces have been transported to the United States for repairs. In February of this year, damaged M142 HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems were spotted at Harrisburg International Airport (Pennsylvania).

MIM-104 Patriot has repeatedly come under attack from Russian weapons. For example, in March of this year it became known that west of the city of Pokrovsk on the territory of the DPR, such a system was hit by a missile from the Iskander-M operational-tactical complex. As a result, three launchers, a target illumination radar and accompanying equipment were disabled. Trained specialists also died; it is possible that among them were NATO military personnel involved in the operation of these weapons.

Patriot's backwardness

Indian military expert T.P. Srivastava in the EurAsian Times concludes that the air defense/missile defense systems quickly deployed in the current conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East were unable to demonstrate the maximum of their capabilities that their manufacturers claimed. In particular, he reviewed the characteristics and confirmed performance of the combat use of the American Patriot air defense system.

As a missile defense system, the Patriot was previously used during the 1991 Gulf War against old and primitive SCAD missiles fired by Iraqi forces. According to a Pentagon report published ten years ago, the interception success rate was then less than 10%. Despite the Patriot's rather poor performance, the United States continued to modify and modernize the system and supply it to friendly countries around the world.

The Ukraine-based Patriot system managed to significantly reduce the number of attacking Russian fighters and helicopters in its early days. However, since Russian fighters began using certain jamming suites, the Patriot's hit rate has dropped sharply, Srivastava said. According to him, Ukraine’s statements about the alleged “shooting down” of more than a dozen Kinzhal hypersonic missiles attributed to the Patriot system still do not have any reliable confirmation.

The failures of the Patriot system in Ukraine have become a negative background for the United States, and they have to praise themselves, wishful thinking and declaring a supposed “good future” for the Patriot air defense systems that failed in Ukraine.