American manufacturer of Patriot systems is "very surprised" by the effectiveness of these systems in Ukraine
Raytheon will deliver 5 more such systems to Kyiv by the end of next year
The American company Raytheon Technologies, the developer of Patriot air defense systems, intends to send five more such systems to Ukraine by the end of 2024.
Source. This was stated in an interview with The Wall Street Journal by the head of the corporation Greg Hayes.
According to Raytheon's CEO, the company was "very surprised" by the effectiveness of Patriot air defense systems in Ukraine. Together with other air defense systems, they intercepted 90% of the missiles.
Hayes noted that Ukraine changed Patriot's software so that the system could track and destroy hypersonic missiles that fly twice as fast as those for which it was originally designed.
It was the Patriot system that shot down the russian Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, which were thought to be unable to be intercepted. This event sparked a lively discussion in the US Defense Department, a senior official in Washington told CNN.
Previously, when russia launched these missiles, it was confident that the targets would be hit. But now these calculations are broken, the source explained. At the same time, the interception of the Kinzhal showed that the Patriot is capable of hitting not only ballistic missiles but also air-launched missiles, which was previously considered only a theoretical possibility, he noted.
Currently, Ukraine has two Patriot systems: one was provided by the United States and the other by Germany and the Netherlands. It was reported that one of them was damaged as a result of a russian attack. Later it turned out that the damage was minor.
Raytheon manufactures the Patriot's main radar and guidance system, the WSJ reports. Lockheed Martin, the developer of F-16 fighter jets and HIMARS air defense systems, manufactures Patriot missiles, and Aerojet Rocketdyne makes the engines for them.
A complete Patriot battery consists of six main components that work together: generators, radar, control station, antennas, launcher, and interceptor missiles.
Background. As a reminder, the Pentagon has announced a new $2.1 billion military aid package for Ukraine, which includes additional ammunition for the Patriot system.
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