• Germany will supply a US-made Patriot air defence system and air defence missiles to Ukraine as Kyiv struggles to defend its energy system from Russian bombardment.

• More than two years into its full-scale invasion, Russia has staged three massive airstrikes on power stations and substations in recent weeks.

• Ukraine needs more air defence systems to protect against the barrage of missile and drones strikes from Russian forces.

• While the Patriot system is designed to intercept threats like aircraft and ballistic missiles, it can also shoot down the “kamikaze” drones Russia has frequently sent to hit Ukrainian critical infrastructure. 

What is the Patriot defence system?

• Patriot is the backbone of air defence for 19 countries, including the US, Germany and Ukraine. 

• The formidable, combat-proven performance of Patriot continues to demonstrate its effectiveness against the most advanced and complex threats.

• The Patriot, which stands for Phased Array Tracking Radar for Intercept on Target, is a theater-wide surface-to-air missile defence system built by Raytheon Technologies Corp.

• The system was first used in combat during the 1991 Gulf War, with batteries protecting Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Israel, and later used during the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

• It is a mobile system that usually includes powerful radar, a control station, a power generator, launch stations and other support vehicles.

• The system has different capabilities depending on the type of interceptor used.

• The PAC-2 interceptor uses a blast-fragmentation warhead, while the newer PAC-3 missile uses more advanced hit-to-kill technology.

• The system’s radar has a range of over 150 km.

• According to reports, a newly produced single Patriot battery costs over $1 billion, with $400 million for the system and $690 million for the missiles in a battery.

• According to Raytheon, the system has intercepted more than 150 ballistic missiles in combat since 2015.

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