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Published: 11 January 2023
10- Jan.- 2023
Washington - USA - Kyiv
Edited by |Paul McHoolder - Senior journalist
As it was released last month in Dec.2022 that both USA and German
will provide Ukraine with weapons especially the Patriot missile ...Today CNN said later on Tuesday afternoon by the Pentagon that Ukrainian troops are set to begin training on the Patriot missile system in the United States as soon as next week.
The training program will take place at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, where the US conducts its own training on operating and maintaining the advanced air defense system. Fort Sill is one of the Army’s four basic training locations and home to the service’s field artillery school, which has been training service members for more than a century.
On Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters that 90 to 100 Ukrainian soldiers would be arriving in Oklahoma for the Patriot training as soon as next week. He was unable to give an exact time frame for how long the training would take – typically it takes up to a year for US soldiers to be trained on it – saying only that it would last “several months.”
“Once fielded, the Patriot… will contribute to Ukraine’s air defense capabilities, and provide another capability to the Ukrainian people to defend themselves against Russia’s ongoing aerial assaults,” Ryder said at Tuesday’s press briefing.
Last week, he said the US was looking at a variety of options where to conduct the Patriot missile training “to include potential training here in the US, overseas, or a combination of both.” Politico reported in December that any US-based training would likely occur at Fort Sill.
The US announced it was sending Ukraine the Patriot missile system in late December when the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington, DC, and met with President Joe Biden.
It is reported too that the advanced air defense system would be provided, after months of denying the request due to the steep logistical and training challenges of deploying it.
The US is providing one Patriot battery, which includes power-generating equipment, computers, an engagement control system, and up to eight launchers. The battery is operated by roughly 90 soldiers and takes months to train up on.
Though the Patriot is broadly seen as one of the most advanced and effective air defense systems, experts cautioned that it is “not a game-changer” because of its limited range and the amount of time it will take for Ukrainians to be able to utilize it.