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Home / Ukraine-Russia / Ukraine’s air defense woes can’t be fixed by American aid
Ukraine‑Russia

May 24, 2024

Ukraine’s air defense woes can’t be fixed by American aid

By Geoff LaMear

Ukraine’s air defenses are succumbing to myriad air threats that cannot be held off, despite the passage of a recent aid bill that provided an additional $61 billion in military aid. Ukraine’s dire military situation cannot be remedied by a blank check, or as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently requested, more Patriot batteries.

The problem is not a resourcing issue, at least not in the short term. The air threats Ukraine faces pose a quantitative overmatch that simply make countering this unachievable.

Ukraine’s air defenses are already facing an untenable situation, one which additional Patriot batteries simply cannot remedy. Ukraine currently possesses just three Patriot batteries, one of which recently lost two launchers to a Russian air attack while convoying.

Read at Defense News

Author

Photo of Geoff Lamear

Geoff
LaMear

Contributing Fellow

Defense Priorities

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