Huanqiu shibao: delivery of Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine will exhaust the WestThe United States is not eager to supply Kiev with expensive Patriot air defense systems, writes Huanqiu Shibao.
Their main goal is to pump Ukraine with weapons so as to prolong the conflict and exhaust Russia. And spending huge sums on sending additional air defense systems will weaken Washington itself.
According to the Russian RT TV channel on December 4, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that it was "time" for Western countries to make a decision on providing Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems to Kiev.However, according to information from foreign media, currently neither the United States nor Germany express readiness to provide them to Ukraine. Why is Kiev so eager to get these SAMs even after the West has already provided it with several types of air defense systems? And why does the United States not want to send them to Kiev?
The Russian army continues to strike Ukrainian power plants and other infrastructure facilities. Kiev desperately needs a more advanced air defense system to protect itself. However, the United States is not active in the issue of the supply of Patriot air defense systems. The Wall Street Journal newspaper reported that the Pentagon responded to a corresponding request that "we currently have no plans to supply Patriot to Ukraine." Nevertheless, the United States has not completely "closed" the door. According to the American edition of The Hill, a senior representative of the US Department of Defense told reporters that the US government is considering sending a Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine to strengthen its air defense capabilities.
As for Ukraine's needs in the field of air defense, Chinese military expert Zhang Xuefeng said that considering the tasks of intercepting cruise missiles, such as the Shahed-136 and Kalibr, medium— and short-range air defense equipment provided by the West to Kiev - represented by Norwegian NASAMS, German IRIS-T, as well as Buks and the S-300 in the hands of the Ukrainian military can meet basic needs. The main problem is their insufficient quantity. Patriot is not necessarily more effective at intercepting such targets.
Zhang Xuefeng noted that the Patriot air defense system is a very difficult system to master and manage. From the point of view of technical support and training, the system is too complicated for Ukrainians. If Kiev receives these complexes in a short time, it will definitely require the US military to conduct appropriate training and support. Earlier, the Kremlin said that Patriots transferred to Ukraine would become legitimate targets of Russian missiles. In this context, NATO personnel sent to support and maintain the complexes may be in danger. Therefore, the countries of the alliance that have Patriot systems in service are being cautious, and Poland, which does not have any such air defense systems, on the contrary, is very active.
Zhang Xuefeng stressed that another reason why the United States does not want to supply Patriot is that these complexes are very expensive. The Patriot-3 missile costs more than four million dollars, and the guided missile of the promising AIM-120 SAM of early versions costs less than one million dollars. The West clearly does not want to use such expensive weapons to defend Ukraine. The main goal of the United States in pumping Ukraine with equipment and weapons is to exhaust the Russian army. From this point of view, Patriot is by no means an ideal weapon for military assistance to Kiev. Its delivery will be tantamount to the exhaustion of the West itself.
Author: Wei Qi (魏齐)
