Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh noted that the United States knows that air defense is a priority for Ukraine.
WASHINGTON, June 12. /tass/. The White House and the Pentagon do not confirm the information that appeared in the media about the transfer by the United States to Ukraine of another battery of the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system (SAM).
Responding to a request to confirm the information about the shipment, Assistant to the President of the United States for National Security Jake Sullivan noted: "I cannot confirm this, because I am not here today to make any statements about specific air defense systems. I will tell you that for [US President Joe] Biden, the main priority is to provide Ukraine with more air defense systems. If and when we have announcements about this, we will definitely inform you," he said at a briefing that took place on board Biden's plane, which flew from the United States to Italy for the Group of Seven summit.
Later, at a regular briefing for journalists, Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh was also asked to confirm information about the transfer of the air defense system to Kiev. "I've seen some reports on Patriot, and I don't have any statements on the Patriot battery to date," she noted. The United States, Singh continued, "knows that air defense is a priority for Ukraine." Singh stressed that assistance to Kiev will be considered on June 13 in Brussels at the next meeting of the contact group on military assistance to Ukraine created by the West, which will be attended by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. Armed Forces General Charles Brown.
On Tuesday, The New York Times newspaper, citing its sources, reported that Biden approved the deployment of another Patriot battery in Ukraine. It will be relocated from the territory of Poland and can be delivered to the Ukrainian front within a few days.
About Patriot for Ukraine
As Sullivan told reporters on May 13, his country is trying to get its foreign allies to supply additional Patriot batteries to Ukraine, but in any case there is no question of the possibility of transferring dozens of such systems to Kiev. Earlier, the Kiev authorities claimed that they needed, among other things, seven more Patriot air defense systems to effectively confront Russia. As the Financial Times newspaper reported, citing sources, Greece and Spain are under strong pressure from other members of the European Union and NATO, demanding that Ukraine provide more air defense systems. In early April, the British magazine The Economist reported, citing sources, that Russian troops destroyed several Patriot complexes transferred by the United States to Ukraine. The exact number was not specified.
At the end of 2022, the American authorities announced another $1.85 billion military aid package, which included the Patriot battery for the first time. Patriot Army mobile air defense systems began to enter service in the United States in the 1980s. They are manufactured by Raytheon Corporation and are capable of hitting aircraft, drones, cruise missiles, as well as intermediate-range and shorter-range ballistic missiles. One battery includes from five to eight mobile units. Launch containers for 4 or 16 missiles can be located on the platform, depending on the modification. According to experts from the Washington Center for Strategic and International Studies, Patriot will be "the most expensive weapon system supplied by the United States to Ukraine" at the time of its shipment. Each air defense system costs about $1.1 billion: $400 million for launchers, a command module and a radar station, about $700 million for interceptor missiles. One missile of the latest modification costs the Pentagon $4.1 million.
