{"id":87580,"date":"2024-07-04T14:03:11","date_gmt":"2024-07-04T14:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/04\/europe-seeks-to-solve-the-patriot-puzzle-in-ukraine\/"},"modified":"2024-07-04T14:03:11","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T14:03:11","slug":"europe-seeks-to-solve-the-patriot-puzzle-in-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/04\/europe-seeks-to-solve-the-patriot-puzzle-in-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe Seeks to Solve the \u2018Patriot Puzzle\u2019 in Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/07\/01\/multimedia\/01ukraine-patriot-puzzle-01-wclp\/01ukraine-patriot-puzzle-01-wclp-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Europe Seeks to Solve the \u2018Patriot Puzzle\u2019 in Ukraine\" title=\"Europe Seeks to Solve the \u2018Patriot Puzzle\u2019 in Ukraine\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A European plan to give Ukraine another Patriot air defense system to protect its battered cities from Russian airstrikes is coming together, piece by piece.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The radar and three missile launchers are being supplied by the Netherlands. Some interceptor missiles are coming from a four-country coalition led by Germany. A mobile fire control center has been promised, though officials won\u2019t say yet from where or by whom. Additional missiles and launchers, as well as training for Ukrainians to use the sophisticated system, will be provided by as many as eight countries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe have all the pieces of the puzzle,\u201d the former Dutch defense minister, Kajsa Ollongren, said in an interview before she left office this week as part of a long-expected transition in the Netherlands\u2019 caretaker government. \u201cWe just have to put them together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It is the Patriot puzzle, as the assembled air defense system is being called by NATO officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has said he desperately needs at least seven Patriot batteries to fend off attacks across the country. President Biden has promised that five Western air defense systems will soon be delivered to Ukraine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Romania has pledged to give one of its systems, following similar commitments from Germany and Italy. One more is expected from the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The fifth may be delivered via the piecemeal approach. For months, allies have been scouring their arsenals and settling on a creative, if not surefire, way to provide another Patriot system: build a complete one out of spare parts donated from around Europe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAll of us have limited possibilities,\u201d said Ms. Ollongren, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/english.defensie.nl\/latest\/news\/2024\/05\/28\/the-netherlands-spearheads-initiative-to-jointly-deliver-patriot-system-for-ukraine-calls-on-other-european-nations-to-contribute\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">who devised the plan<\/a> after Mr. Zelensky first asked for seven Patriot systems in April. \u201cBut if we join forces, I think we can make it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A spokesman said the Dutch government will continue the effort under the new defense minister, Ruben Brekelmans, who took office on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">All of NATO\u2019s member states are hard-pressed to give up any more of the estimated 90 surface-to-air Patriot batteries that weapons trackers at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London say are scattered across the military alliance \u2014 two-thirds of them owned by the United States. For smaller European countries that can ill-afford the $1 billion-plus systems, donating even one from their stocks poses risks to their own national defense.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Yet, presenting Ukraine with additional air defense is likely to be one of the few tangible commitments that the allies will announce next week at a high-level meeting of NATO leaders in Washington \u2014 a pledge that may only partially placate Mr. Zelensky.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThey know that urgently we need seven Patriot systems \u2014 yes, to save our cities,\u201d Mr. Zelensky <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/speeches-remarks\/2024\/06\/13\/remarks-by-president-biden-and-president-volodymyr-zelenskyy-of-ukraine-in-joint-press-conference-fasano-italy\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">said at a<\/a> news conference with Mr. Biden at the Group of 7 meeting last month in Italy. \u201cAnd we discussed the possibility of having five of them, it\u2019s true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean that tomorrow we will have these five systems, but we see, in the closest future, good result for Ukraine,\u201d Mr. Zelensky said in English.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It was Mr. Zelensky\u2019s request for seven systems that had started Ms. Ollongren exploring how to provide another Patriot system, even though the Netherlands\u2019 highest-ranking military officer had advised that the Dutch did not have one to spare.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They did, however, have some spare parts available. As it turned out, so did some other NATO nations. And countries that didn\u2019t have any pieces to give but wanted to contribute something nonetheless said they would help to finance or train as many as 90 or so Ukrainian soldiers needed to operate a single Patriot battery.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cOne of the things that we\u2019re exploring right now is the interoperability of the systems,\u201d the Swedish defense minister, Pal Jonson, said at a NATO meeting in Brussels last month. He said Sweden is considering \u201ca whole range of things that we could contribute to this puzzle,\u201d but would not explicitly say what.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Sweden and the Netherlands are among only seven NATO countries in Europe that field Patriot systems; the others are Germany, Greece, Poland, Romania and Spain, according to data provided by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, or IISS.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">There is a Spanish battery positioned at a Turkish air base under NATO authority, but three others that alliance members had stationed in Slovakia have all been withdrawn by their owners, Germany, the Netherlands and the U.S., according to the IISS data. \u201cWe have no system in Slovakia, and we are on the border with Ukraine,\u201d the Slovak defense minister, Robert Kalinak, said at last month\u2019s NATO meeting. Slovakia is negotiating to buy some systems, he said, but \u201cwe need some kind of solidarity for the next two years as we gave away all we had.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Germany\u2019s defense minister, Boris Pistorius, said that with its latest donation, his government had already given what it can, \u201cbut others maybe can do more.\u201d Three of the four Patriots already in Ukraine were given by Germany, which <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bundesregierung.de\/breg-en\/news\/military-support-ukraine-2054992\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">also recently donated two additional midrange IRIS-T<\/a> air defense systems and is leading a related effort with the Netherlands, Norway and Denmark <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/kyivindependent.com\/germany-to-supply-ukraine-with-68-patriot-missiles-german-defense-minister-says\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">to deliver 100 Patriot<\/a> interceptor missiles in the coming months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The United States owns the vast majority of the Patriot arsenal in NATO \u2014 62 deployable batteries, according to the IISS data \u2014 but is fielding some in the Middle East, mainly to protect U.S. bases and interests from Iranian airstrikes, and also in Japan and South Korea in the event of an attack by North Korea or China. The Biden administration <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/89fe9d6b-3a0f-42a5-af50-cff7f457a126\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">is also<\/a> redirecting orders for Patriot missiles placed by other countries to focus on getting them to Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Henry Boyd, an air defense expert at IISS who tracks Patriot systems worldwide, said the Dutch plan to piece one together could be a limited solution for Ukraine, given that the United States \u201cis overstretched\u201d and the Europeans are \u201cbasically at minimum levels already.\u201d But he questioned whether Patriot parts coming from different countries \u2014 with a range of aging models and software upgrades \u2014 could be made to work together.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere\u2019s quite a question mark in terms of interoperability,\u201d Mr. Boyd said. It is also unclear, he said, \u201cwhether any significant additional work would be required to achieve this compatibility.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Ollongren agreed that some parts sourced from around Europe might not immediately work together. \u201cBut we also know we\u2019re able to solve it,\u201d she said, adding that the Netherlands has set up a team of technical experts to go to each donor country and help ensure all of the pieces fit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">She would not say when the assembled Patriot battery might be delivered to Ukraine, and also raised the possibility that it might instead be sent in parts to replace broken pieces of systems that are already there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere are different options,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have all the puzzle pieces, but we have to see how we want the puzzle to look.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It can take up to three years to build and deliver a single Patriot system, and officials in the United States and Europe are trying to speed production with joint contracts and new factories for its manufacturer, Raytheon. Until then, officials said, Ukraine may soon need to be satisfied with other kinds of Western air defense systems, even if they are not as precise or powerful as the Patriot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Ollongren said the shortage has also stressed countries in Europe that were initially reluctant to give away any more air defenses. But the dire battleground conditions for Ukraine earlier this spring, as ammunition dwindled and an American military aid package stalled for six months, prompted her to call \u201cfor more creativity in what we were doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThere are always challenges,\u201d she said. But after proposing the Patriot puzzle, \u201ceverybody was really, first of all, aware that we have to do this for Ukraine,\u201d she said, \u201cand also that everybody can do something.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/04\/us\/politics\/ukraine-nato-patriot-air-defense.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A European plan to give Ukraine another Patriot air defense system to protect its battered cities from Russian airstrikes is coming together, piece by piece. The radar and three missile launchers are being supplied by the Netherlands. Some interceptor missiles are coming from a four-country coalition led by Germany. A mobile fire control center has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/07\/01\/multimedia\/01ukraine-patriot-puzzle-01-wclp\/01ukraine-patriot-puzzle-01-wclp-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[896,65610,5433,5113,2355,1130],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87580"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87580"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87582,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87580\/revisions\/87582"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}