Comment on Israel has never been impressed with its version of the $1 billion Patriot air defense system. Now it could offload up to 8 to U

Israel has never been impressed with its version of the $1 billion Patriot air defense system. Now it could offload up to 8 to U

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and a Patriot system.Jens Buttner/ ReutersIsrael could transfer up to eight Patriot missile batteries to Ukraine.Israel is upgrading its air defense and looking to retire older Patriot batteries.Ukraine has long coveted more of the $1 billion US-manufactured Patriot systems.The US is involved in discussions about the possibility of transferring up to eight Patriot air defense batteries from Israel to Ukraine, in what would be a major boost for the latter in its fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin's invading forces.While no agreement has been reached yet, a deal would likely involve transferring the batteries from Israel to the US and then on to Ukraine, the Financial Times reported.It would be a welcome moment for Ukraine, which has long coveted more of the $1 billion US-manufactured Patriot systems."Israel's Patriots would greatly expand Ukraine's air defense capacity at a time when it is sorely needed," John Hardie, the Deputy Director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Russia Program, said."While they are on the older side, these systems — and Israel's considerable stocks of interceptors — would help Ukraine defend its critical infrastructure and counter Russian jets that are pounding Ukrainian positions and towns with glide bombs," he added.It comes after the Israeli Air Force announced earlier this year that it would be shutting down its aging Patriot batteries and replacing them with more advanced systems.Israel has never been impressed with its versions of the Patriot system, having seen them struggle in combat against Iraqi Scud missiles fired at its cities in 1991, as Business Insider previously reported.Officials estimated that it shot down only one or possibly even none of the missiles."Israel has long been looking for a more advanced and more indigenous system to supplement or replace the Patriot, not only given its service history but also the supply chain that it requires," Ryan Bohl, a senior Middle East and North Africa analyst at the risk intelligence company RANE, told BI."I think Israel views the Patriot as out of date and too expensive to keep up with given the breakthroughs that were demonstrated during that barrage by newer systems," Bohl added.However, Israel has yet to fully retire its Patriot systems, as it is still using them in the ongoing conflict with Hamas and would likely want them should an all-out war with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah break out.Zelenskyy's Patriot pleasUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has never been shy about his desire to get his hands on more Patriot systems.In April, Zelenskyy told NATO members that Ukraine needed at least seven Patriot or other advanced air defense systems to defend against Russian attacks."We are telling this directly – to defend, we need seven more 'Patriots' or similar air defence systems, and it's a minimum number.

 

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