Germany to send a Patriot air defense battery to Ukraine.

Germany will supply Ukraine with armored personnel carriers and a Patriot missile battery, the government announced on January 5 in a joint German-U.S. statement. The federal government wants to supply the country attacked by Russia with Marder infantry fighting vehicles and a Patriot anti-aircraft battery.
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German army Patriot launcher (Picture source: Army Recognition)

This forthcoming delivery of a Patriot battery to Ukraine was announced by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Biden after a phone call between the two leaders. The statement recalled that the U.S. in December 2022 announced that it would give a Patriot air defense missile battery to Ukraine and said that “Germany will join the United States in supplying an additional Patriot air defense battery to Ukraine.” It didn’t specify a time schedule and the Patriot variant. Currently, the German armed forces have a total of 30 MIM-104C/F Patriot PAC-2/PAC-3.

On July 15, 2019, The U.S. State Department made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Germany of Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) Missiles Segment Enhanced (MSE) with support for an estimated cost of $401 million.

Raytheon upgraded Germany's Patriot Integrated Air and Missile Defense System to the most current configuration, the PAC-3 MSE under a $105.5 million direct commercial sales contract from the NATO Support and Procurement Agency. The contract award was first announced on Raytheon's earnings call on July 25th, 2019. "This upgrade ensures that Germany's air and missile defense remains current until at least 2035," said Tom Laliberty, Raytheon vice president of Integrated Air and Missile Defense. The contract came shortly after the Defense and Budget Committees of the German Federal Parliament approved the upgrade, ensuring Germany remains aligned with five other EU and NATO allies that rely on Patriot for their air and missile defense. The German army has been using the Patriot PAC-3 air defense missile systems that were delivered by the United States between 2008-2010 according to the SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute ) Arms Trade Database.

The PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) is an evolution of the battle-proven PAC-3 Missile. The hit-to-kill PAC-3 MSE provides performance enhancements that counter evolving threat advancements. The enhancements ensure the PAC-3 Missile Segment of the PATRIOT Air Defense System is capable of engaging new and evolving threats. The hit-to-kill PAC-3 Missile is the world’s most advanced, and capable theater air defense missile and defender against the entire threat to the Patriot Air Defense System: Tactical Ballistic Missiles (TBMs) carrying weapons of mass destruction, evolving cruise missiles and aircraft.

The PAC-3 MSE design utilizes the latest technology to significantly increase performance. The PAC-3 MSE incorporates a larger, dual pulse solid rocket motor; larger fins; and upgraded actuators and thermal batteries to accommodate increased performance. The new missile of the Patriot PAC-3 has increased effectiveness against tactical ballistic and cruise missiles through the use of advanced hit-to-kill technology. The radar of the Patriot system is able to detect aerial threats at a range of up to 150 km and the PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles could intercept ballistic missiles with a range from 15 to 20 km.

The PAC-3 MSE is packaged in a single canister that stacks to provide logistical flexibility. Twelve individual PAC-3 MSE Missiles can be loaded on a Patriot launcher or a combination of six MSEs and eight PAC-3 Missiles (two four-packs) can be loaded.