Ukraine deployed two more Patriot systems

“Two more Patriot air defense complexes have been deployed to protect Ukraine’s cities and key infrastructure. They will help minimize damage from enemy cruise and ballistic missile attacks,” the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said today.

This agency said these are two new complexes received from Germany, as part of the military aid package announced in August 2025. Germany accepted the transfer of Patriot systems in service to Ukraine after the US committed to giving priority to providing newly produced complexes.

The Ukrainian Air Force Command on the same day announced that Russia had deployed 205 suicide drones (UAVs) and bait traps in an attack on this country on the night of December 31, 2025 and the early morning of January 1.

“Air defense units shot down and jammed 176 enemy aircraft in the northern, southern and eastern skies of the country. 24 UAVs crashed into 15 locations,” the agency said but did not announce specific damage.

Patriot is the most expensive weapon system that the US and its allies provide to Ukraine. Each complex costs nearly 1.1 billion USD, of which the rocket costs 690 million USD and other components cost about 400 million USD. Each complete Patriot battery includes a command vehicle, fire control radar station, generator vehicle, communications station and 6-8 launchers.

Ukrainian Patriot systems are equipped with the most modern PAC-3 MSE missiles produced by the US, with a maximum range of 120 km for aircraft and 60 km for ballistic missiles. Ukraine has repeatedly praised the effectiveness of the Patriot, emphasizing that this is the only weapon that can deal with Russia’s Kinzhal hypersonic missile and Iskander-M tactical ballistics.

However, Patriot’s interception rate in Ukraine is increasingly declining due to missile exhaustion, while many batteries are also raided and destroyed by Russia. Moscow also continuously upgrades its Iskander-M ballistic missiles, making the Patriot system not as effective as Kiev wishes.

After months of continuous attack, a number of Patriot complexes were damaged or completely destroyed, significantly weakening Ukraine’s air defense network. Statistics in October 2025 show that Ukraine seems to have only 5 systems capable of fighting, the specific number of radars and launchers is unknown.