Ukraine may receive license to produce ‘less advanced’ Patriot missiles – Trump
US President Donald Trump said Washington is in talks to grant Ukraine a license to produce “less advanced” missiles for the Patriot system. He also noted that the US is now producing more Patriot missiles than ever before.
This was reported by the White House press service .
According to Trump, the United States has significant stockpiles of certain types of weapons and is rapidly replenishing the stockpiles of weapons transferred to Ukraine.
“We have large stockpiles of certain types of weapons, some of which are available in virtually unlimited quantities. As for elite weapons, a significant portion of them were transferred to Ukraine, but we are replenishing these stocks very quickly,” Trump said.
The US president did not specify which missiles were being discussed. However, according to the publication, the negotiations may concern an older version of the PAC-2 missile, which is currently being transferred to Ukraine by European countries, in particular Germany.
The Patriot family uses several generations of interceptors, including the PAC-2 , PAC-3 , and PAC-3 MSE .
The PAC-2 is an older missile, while the PAC-3 MSE is the most modern of the main modifications of this family, which is currently being actively purchased by the US Army.
The main difference is in the method of defeating the target. The PAC-2 uses a high-explosive fragmentation warhead, while the PAC-3 and PAC-3 MSE use the hit-to-kill principle – destroying the target by direct kinetic impact. The PAC-3 MSE is designed to counter a wider range of complex air and missile threats.
The PAC-3 MSE also has increased range, interception altitude, and maneuverability compared to previous Patriot missiles. According to the US Army, this was achieved, in part, by a more powerful rocket motor and larger control surfaces.
Thus, the PAC-2 is inferior to the modern PAC-3 MSE primarily in range, maneuverability, and ability to counter more complex missile targets, and also uses a different defeat principle. At the same time, the PAC-2 remains compatible with the Patriot and continues to be used to intercept air targets.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump abandoned the idea of transferring to Ukraine the secret technologies necessary for the independent production of interceptor missiles for the Patriot systems . Washington fears that Russia could eventually gain access to American developments.
As reported this morning, Ukraine has not yet received a license to produce interceptor missiles for Patriot systems . The US stated that negotiations are ongoing, but they will not have time to complete them and conclude a corresponding agreement before the beginning of winter.
By the way, the US Department of Defense has signed seven-year framework agreements with General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems and Lockheed Martin, which should significantly increase the production of components for the THAAD and Patriot missile defense systems .
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